What John Key actually believes in

Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, January 6th, 2015 - 146 comments
Categories: child welfare, China, climate change, john key, labour, Media, national, newspapers, poverty - Tags:

Charlie Mitchell in the Dominion Post recently published this very interesting article giving an insight into how John Key’s thinking may have developed over the past seven years. To come up with data on how often Key talked about different subjects the reporter analysed the text of Key’s formal speeches which appear on his website.

It is clear that the subjects he has concentrated on have changed. And what is also clear is that he started off “Labour lite”, talking about the subjects which appealed to voters’ better instincts but he no longer does this.

“Climate change” was initially a subject of considerable interest. In 2005 before he became leader Key declared himself to be somewhat suspicious on whether or not it existed.  By 2007 this was all changed with climate change being mentioned 121 times.  More recently it appears to have become less important in Key’s thinking.  It has been mentioned only three times and on one of those occasions Key said that there were more important issues than climate change.

In 2007 he really enjoyed talking about young people and youth and mentioned then 170 times.  Who can forget the trip to Waitangi with young Aroha Nathan an inhabitant of McGehan Close?  In a carefully scripted photo shoot and the use of a Ministerial Limo to do the transporting he transported her to Waitangi to show that he really did care about young people.  Aroha’s subsequent life experiences suggest that Key’s expressed desire to do something about the “under class” was for political purposes only.  Since that time the use of the words “youth” and “young person” has diminished.  Last year they were used only 37 times, and even the phrase “flag” was used more.

Other subjects such as “schools”, “farming”, “wages” and “crime” have plummeted in their use.  But “China” has spiked.  “Poverty” is rarely used and only to deny that it exists.

As Mitchell notes the most used phrase in all of his speeches is “New Zealand”.  It has been used more than 3,500 times or about 23 times each speech.  What is that saying about how patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel?

146 comments on “What John Key actually believes in ”

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  1. hoom 1
    6 January 2015 at 9:44 am

    ‘What John Key actually believes in’
    For a brief introduction see http://www.act.org.nz/policies :p

  2. ghostwhowalksnz 2
    6 January 2015 at 9:44 am

    I noticed he talks about golf more as well. And as others have noticed, his unbelievable change in his handicap over recent years. Something doesnt add up ?

  3. phillip ure 3
    6 January 2015 at 9:54 am

    ayn rand..

    ..he is an admitted fanboy of ayn rand..

    ..that’s what he ‘believes in’..determinism..

    ..that fuck-the-poor! litany of hate/greed preached by that hideous ideologue so beloved by the elites/exploiters…

    ..that’s what john key ‘believes in’..

    • TheContrarian 3.1
      6 January 2015 at 4:23 pm

      “..he is an admitted fanboy of ayn rand..”

      Citation needed.

      • phillip ure 3.1.1
        6 January 2015 at 4:35 pm

        sorry..i can’t be screwed hunting for the actual quote/admission..

        ..you’ll have to take it on faith..

        ..or..u can look yrslf..

        ..and yr copies of the fountinhead/atlas shrugged wd b well-thumbed..eh..?

        ..and why the surprise..?

        ..many/most in nact..if scratched..wd bleed rand..

        ..and a frighteningly large number in labour..on the right..

        ..wd be of a similar blood-group..

        ..this may not be common knowledge..

        ..but it is hardly a state-secret..

        ..and it explains so much..i feel..

        ..especially that just not giving a fuck about poverty..

        ..to the true-believer randite..the poor are there because they deserve to be..

        ..and it is all their own fault..so fuck them..!

        ..them and their offspring can just rot..!

        • TheContrarian 3.1.1.1
          6 January 2015 at 4:43 pm

          I take nothing from you on faith Phil.

          Never heard Key speak of Rand once so I think your admitted fanboy of ayn rand is bullshit. And since you won’t support the claim then, yeah – I’m calling bullshit.

          Tried reading Atlas Shrugged once, made it about 50 pages in before giving up.

          • phillip ure 3.1.1.1.1
            6 January 2015 at 4:48 pm

            please yrslf..like i give a fuck..eh..?

            ..and i wonder if his hagiographer roughan mentioned rand in that pile of highly polished dross on key..

            ..that he vomited up..?

            ..probably not..too much of a glimpse behind the mask..i’d be thinking..

          • McFlock 3.1.1.1.2
            6 January 2015 at 4:58 pm

            That’s a bit harsh, contrarian. It’s not like pu has ever been accused of being slightly incorrect, outright wrong, or categorically delusional. We can trust his word of what his recollection is…

            • Wayne 3.1.1.1.2.1
              7 January 2015 at 8:07 am

              There is absolutely zero evidence that John Key has any interest in Ayn Rand. Totally made up by Phillip Ure to confirm his own prejudices.

              While Standardnista’s will hate this, John Key is a pretty much the epitome of a centrist politician. He instinctively distrusts the extremes.

              This of course is one of the main reasons for his success. Middle New Zealand knows he is in sync with them and they trust him to do the right thing on the issues that matter to them – keeping the economy moving, ensuring the schools and the healthy system can do their job, getting crime down and keeping New Zealand’ s name in good standing internationally. Of course I know Standardnista’s think the Nats are a disaster on all these things, but virtually all international measures, including NZ getting on the UNSC, says otherwise.

              The nearly 50 % of New Zealanders who cared enough to vote and who voted National could not give a toss for all the minutiae that are the concerns of this site. And they certainly did not like Nicky Hagar, KDC etc trying to screw the scrum on what they see is their election, not that of a self appointed elite.

              • One Anonymous Bloke …
                7 January 2015 at 8:13 am

                …schools and the health system…international measures…

                Nope. PISA score dropping, NZ featuring in poorer outcomes noted by The Lancet among others. A case study for the ill effects of free market ideology.

                What was 14 is now 27. Ring any bells, Dr. Mapp? When it comes to spin, you’re as bad as Phil Ure, in your own special way.

              • The Murphey …
                7 January 2015 at 9:51 am

                Q. Do you see yourself on the Mapp as ‘middle NZ’ ?

                That your statement about the success of Key could have some merit is a resounding indictment of the gullibility of the so called ‘middle’ in NZ

                The lies and spin are not not synchronized with humanity and are the devious work of agendas which use such scare tactics to control the gullible

                Q. Are you gullible ?

              • phillip ure …
                7 January 2015 at 10:57 am

                @ wayne..

                ..i saw a television interview of key..where he was asked about rand..

                ..i can’t remember who/when..

                ..and key was reluctant to talk about it/her..

                ..and.. i do not just make shit up..eh..?..

                ..key was sitting in a slim-sided armchair..a table just to his right..

                ..and key was on the right of the viewers’ screen..

                ..the reporter (male) was in back/side-profile view..

                ..key moved uneasily/shuffled/blushed..at rand-questions..

                ..(the reporter did not dwell on it..it was left at the admission..)

                ..it stuck so vividly in my memory..’cos i found it so illuminating..

                • northshoredoc …
                  7 January 2015 at 12:37 pm

                  “..and.. i do not just make shit up..eh..?..”

                  🙄 😆

                  • phillip ure …
                    7 January 2015 at 2:44 pm

                    and i sure as hell don’t push big-pharmas’ products for them..

                    ..addictive-products..at that…

                    (and seeing as you are accusing..care to point at an incident..?..where i have ‘made shit up’..)

                    ..and i should warn you..a pill-pusher attempting to take the high-ground on anything..really..

                    ..isn’t really believable..

                    ..and north shore doc..$50 or $75 for a 15 min ‘consultation’..?

                    ..and care to list the financial-incentives/trips etc. you have accepted from big-pharma in..i dunno..the last couple of yrs..?

                    ..companies whose addictive-products you now push onto yr hapless patients..

                    ..mind you..u cd be pulling our legs..and it’s a phd..

                    • northshoredoc …
                      7 January 2015 at 6:09 pm

                      @ phil, public hospital most of the time these days…. so no consultation fees.

                      In relation to pushing big pharma products – you really do have little to no idea….all the funded products we have discretion to prescribe are on the pharmaceutical schedule which is decided upon by PHARMAC based upon scientific evidence/cost effectiveness…although I know scientific evidence is a completely foreign concept to you.

                      The products we prescribe most often these days are generic copies manufactured in countries such as India.

                      The number of trips financial incentives I’ve accepted from pharmaceutical companies in the last five years or so is a big fat zero as is the case for the vast majority of my colleagues….there is little to no presence of your fabled big pharma in NZ. …. we also are funded for educational seminars as part of our collective contract.

                      As always it is a amusing to read your fact free fancies.

                      In relation to pointing out an incident for where you have made things up .. I believe most people could type your name in the search engine for this site and >75% of your dribble would qualify as making stuff up.

                    • phillip ure …
                      7 January 2015 at 6:25 pm

                      (i have moved this and replied on open mike.)

                • Sacha …
                  7 January 2015 at 2:45 pm

                  “key moved uneasily/shuffled/blushed..at rand-questions”

                  yeah, that’s a long way from “is an admitted Rand fanboy”, wouldn’t you agree?

                  • phillip ure …
                    7 January 2015 at 2:48 pm

                    why don’t you give us what u understand by/from ‘admitted rand fanboy’..

                    ..eh..?..

                    • Sacha …
                      7 January 2015 at 2:51 pm

                      Most people do not confuse avoiding a question with ‘admitting’ something. Mind, you perhaps they’re less confused by life in general..

                    • The Al1en …
                      7 January 2015 at 2:56 pm

                      Nope, you can’t play nicely with anyone. Happy everyone can see it’s not just me now 😉
                      You couldn’t even do three days without resorting to swears and blanket insults. 😆 :shocker:

                      “If I see you just resorting to open nastiness with others, like you have with Tracy this afternoon, getting personal with the insults where you have no right to at all, then I’ll know it’s not me and you’re beyond help and back I’ll stroll and carry on as normal.”

                      So back I roll.

                      I am a Fulham fan. Now I am an admitted Fulham fan.
                      If ever it’s quoted that I am a Fulham fan, and someone asks for a citation to prove I am an admitted Fulham fan, this post should be linked to.

                      If an idiot writes – The Al1en is a spurs fan, but when asked for proof, can’t link to prove their claim, it exposes them to rightful ridicule in the vein of ‘what a liar’ ‘he makes up stuff he can’t back up’ etc. etc.

                      ‘why don’t you give us what u understand by/from’ citation please?

                    • phillip ure …
                      7 January 2015 at 3:08 pm

                      sacha..

                      ..as you use the same tactics as alan..make accusations..and then slide off..never respond directly..

                      ..and as such..like alan..u r a total waste of time/energy..

                      ..u can just join alan in the ignore-corner..eh..?

                      ..best all around..i think..

                    • The Al1en …
                      7 January 2015 at 3:13 pm

                      “..he is an admitted fanboy of ayn rand..”

                      “..that john key and his mother were in a state house was a family-aberration….and key was deeply ashamed of it at the time..”

                      Citations needed for truthfulness and saving of a rapidly sliding reputation please.
                      Any verifiable source for either will do.
                      Thanks 😉

                    • Sacha …
                      7 January 2015 at 3:51 pm

                      Phillip, people here can read even this one thread and see that it its not me who says shit they can’t back up. It is OK to admit when we make mistakes about something. Life’s too short, etc.

                    • The Al1en …
                      7 January 2015 at 4:14 pm

                      Yep sure, making a mistake is human, no problem with that. Of course lying is a bit different, but still human, so no biggie as long as you fess up and admit the ruse when nabbed in the act.

                      What isn’t okay though is denial and transference, like claiming others won’t respond to questions or enter into debate then running away for a little bit until the next time and the next time and the next time ad infinitum.

                      I’m happy to accept pu got a little carried away with the topic here and slipped in a couple of untruths for effect, though he can of course at any time provide some supporting evidence to back up his claims and prove me wrong.

                      It’s up to phillip to confirm or deny, but it does tell a cautionary tale about misrepresenting the truth.

                    • phillip ure …
                      7 January 2015 at 4:24 pm

                      classic number seven…

                    • The Al1en …
                      7 January 2015 at 4:26 pm

                      “classic number seven…”

                      Referring to the list posted by travellerev the other day about shill posting.
                      http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-04012015/#comment-946715

                      Okay, playing along, if you think I’m a shill, who I am I shilling for?

                      Bearing in mind you’ve just posted

                      “..make accusations..and then slide off..never respond directly..”

                    • TheContrarian …
                      7 January 2015 at 4:46 pm

                      “why don’t you give us what u understand by/from ‘admitted rand fanboy’..”

                      Somebody admitting to being a rand fanboy. Not the recollection of someone “mov[ing] uneasily/shuffl[ing]/blush[ing]” from a faded stoner who can’t barely string a sentence together and can’t remember where he remembers it from.

                      You’re a complete fucking teacup who has failed to back up his claims in such an epic fashion that it boggles the mind you are still trying to pretend you are right and everyone else is wrong.

              • tricledrown …
                7 January 2015 at 11:24 am

                As usual miopic Mapp is full of crapp.
                Had KDC not been involved in the last election where his political naivity tarnished the whole lefts credibility.
                In football terms an own goal!
                Nicky Hagers book would have stood out on how John Key is scewing the whole New Zealand political system.
                Wayne you are the prophylactive trying your best to frame the left for exposing Key and his Cronies.
                Ypur just another Crony complicid in the cover up,propping up an illegal scum pimping for your hooKeyer!

              • northshoredoc …
                7 January 2015 at 12:39 pm

                Wayne you sound remarkably like a long time poster here called Fisiani who has disappeared…..

                [lprent: Wayne is not fisiani. I think that fisiani picked up a ban which is why he isn’t here at present. Don’t worry fisiani always comes back.. ]

                • Wayne …
                  7 January 2015 at 4:16 pm

                  Not me.
                  As I recall Fisiani was pretty hard right. I regard myself as a centre-right moderate, though I imagine that is not how many Standardnista’s would classify me. But then they think John Key is some some sort of rightwing maniac just itching to unleash the most extreme form of ACT policies on New Zealand if only he could just get away with it.
                  But a moderate is how the Press Gallery saw me. And I would have thought if you looked at my posts on the is site over the last two years, I pretty accurately reflect the views of the typical New Zealand centre-right voter.
                  Certainly as the MP for North Shore I was pretty much in sync with the views of the electorate, and I put a lot of effort in doing so. Ask my various opponents in the seat, such as Phil Tywford for their opinion.

                  • lprent …
                    7 January 2015 at 5:10 pm

                    I wouldn’t have said that Fis was hard right. His defining blogging characteristic wasn’t the political views that he expressed.

                    It was more the cloying sycophantic praise that he performed on everything that was John Key and National without any apparent thought behind it that tended to infuriate people. I’d have said that his political views consisted mainly of having a rather large brown smear on his proboscis.

                    Just my opinion of course… 😈

              • Murray Rawshark …
                7 January 2015 at 5:13 pm

                Yeah, sure Wayne. How about this one, which condemns Clark and Key? I appreciate how some might admire your tribal loyalty, but I think it shows a lack of discernment and character.

                http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/05/how-inequality-made-these-western-countries-poorer/

  4. Anne 4
    6 January 2015 at 9:55 am

    What topic was John Key’s favourite over his eight years as National’s leader?

    He said it more than 3500 times, about 23 times per speech.

    “New Zealand.”

    “New Zealand” never waned. “New Zealand” was always top of mind.

    No-one could accuse Key of being unpatriotic.

    My reading of that particular excerpt is that the author was presenting it as an example of Key’s strong patriotism for NZ. That of course is utter rubbish. He wouldn’t have come back if he hadn’t been lured back with the prospect of political power at the top level of government – a stepping stone towards his ultimate goal of a top-of-the-line global corporate posting once he’s done his PM time.

    In the long run, he only really cares about what NZ can do for him – not what he can do for NZ.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      6 January 2015 at 1:35 pm

      He wouldn’t have come back if he hadn’t been lured back with the prospect of political power at the top level of government – a stepping stone towards his ultimate goal of a top-of-the-line global corporate posting once he’s done his PM time.

      And the addition of ‘sir’ to his name which will probably help with that top of the line corporate posting.

      In the long run, he only really cares about what NZ can do for him – not what he can do for NZ.

      Yep, he doesn’t give two hoots about NZ. He’s only interested in increasing his own wealth and power and he’s willing to screw over NZ to get it.

      • Ad 4.1.1
        6 January 2015 at 5:23 pm

        That may be how it appears to the deep left, but for most he resonates “New Zealand” (in National’s definition) with New Zealanders like no other PM we’ve ever had. It’s a coded and subtle patriotism, sure, more coded than Labour’s economic nationalism. But all the more powerful for that.

        He’s not a statesman’s left tit, mind, but the next term is his and his alone for the taking. After that last election, he stands astride caucus with more actual power than Muldoon had even in his prime. They owe him everything.

        • mickysavage 4.1.1.1
          6 January 2015 at 6:08 pm

          The best Crosby Textor advice that money can buy? I would be interested to see a Cameron and Abbott analysis of their speechifying habits.

          • Ad 4.1.1.1.1
            6 January 2015 at 6:13 pm

            Cameron is supposedly Key’s model.
            I bet it’s the exact reverse.

            Abbott is a one-term wonder – if that.

        • North 4.1.1.2
          6 January 2015 at 7:17 pm

          “But all the more powerful for that.” – Ad @ 4.1.1

          And all the more worrying for that. As evidenced by my New Year’s Eve experience. Essentially a middle-to-lower middle class crowd of nice people. Wow…….The GodKeyism was in the air ! When it came to it. After some bennie-bashing to shame Maggie Smith for its witheringness

          It “came to it…..” for one (‘adult’) guy when the next morning my proffered hand of New Year’s wishes was met with a sulking, sotto, “I’d rather not……”, eyes staring disconsolately away. Faith. It wasn’t a punishing hangover. It was Faith.

          And fucked manners. And he’s not even placed anywhere near a Tory in the big basic picture. He’s a worker. And if only by default he’s a believer.

          • Wendigo Jane 4.1.1.2.1
            6 January 2015 at 9:15 pm

            I too have met people who think it’s really not OK to openly dislike the PM – it’s horrible, rude, crazy… The same with being “political” – the PM is a great guy and isn’t really political, he’s just an ordinary Noo Zilder who worked hard and did well. The rest of them, politicians, are as bad as each other – and same goes for anyone “political”. Now shut up with your nasty comments about John, you nasty, crazy political person. We have rugby, and hobbits, WW1 commemorations, our families, and we’ll get a nice new flag, and Noo Zild is the best place in the world to raise kids if you work hard. John is doing his best and John’s rich! what have YOU ever achieved?

          • TheBlackKitten 4.1.1.2.2
            8 January 2015 at 12:01 pm

            I bet National & Key and co just love this attitude and it is this attitude that is rife right through both the Labour and Green parties.
            We live in a democracy and in a democracy the majority wins despite if you like that or not, despite if you agree with their beliefs or not the majority still will win, that is a fact so get used to it.
            Another fact is that these middle class twits (in your mind and all the other arrogant elitists that comment on this site) are the majority.
            Key has the brains to recognise this which is why he plays to their tune ie: bennie bashing etc. Labour/Greens are too dumb and instead continue on the mantra of wanting to promote policies that are not popular with the majority.
            My bet is that Key and National must just be killing themselves with laughter that after 3 elections and one absolute dismal result, the left wing parties in NZ politics still don’t get that one simple obvious fact.
            Who are the stupid ones here?!
            I am going to be generous to the left wing today. Here’s a hint, if you want to be in government again and really want to defeat Key, then try winning the majority of the NZ people instead of bashing them by telling them they are too dumb to understand your policies. Start by telling them how you will address their economic concerns such as high food, power and housing costs and ditch all the PC bullshit and pandering to all the people who choose our welfare system as a lifestyle as opposed to using it as a hand up.
            Bet you will ignore my advice, and to do so will be at your peril and will see 2017 being another black election year and will grant Key what he really wants which is to join Holyoake as a 4 term PM.

    • disturbed 4.2
      6 January 2015 at 8:35 pm

      100% Anne. Wonder how many times Key said “at the end of the day’?

  5. Stickler 5
    6 January 2015 at 11:07 am

    He certainly does not believe in the country of his birth.

    John Key must be the most uncommitted Tourism Minister this country has ever had.

    At least Jim Bolger spent his holidays walking NZ tramping tracks – this one disappears to his Hawaiian residence every chance he gets. To get his master’s orders, no doubt.

  6. Philip Ferguson 6
    6 January 2015 at 11:45 am

    I don’t think there’s much evidence that Key believes in anything other than being prime minister.

    In the case of people like Douglas or Richardson, they believed in the (nonsensical because there are no such things nor can there be) ‘free markets’ and they vigorously pursued policies in line with their ‘true believer’ ideology.

    Key is a working class boy made good. What do you do when you’ve come from his background and have more money than you could ever know what to do with, but you’re in a position (money man) which is not quite respectable? Well, you could become prime minister of New Zealand and get to meet the Queen, and American presidents, and pop stars and cool people.

    The work isn’t arduous – still plenty of time to improve your golf game and holiday in Hawaii.

    I think key is genuinely committed to keeping the retirement age at 65 – and he’s to the left of Labour on that. I think that commitment comes from his experience of his mother’s life.

    He’s also generally socially liberal – voting for gay marriage, for instance. He seems keen on promoting (bourgeois) women and having more formal equality, while at the same time managing an overall system (capitalism) which, of necessity, continually creates and reproduces a range of inequalities.

    He is very largely poll-driven. He voted against civil unions, for instance, but over the next decade it became clear there is a very solid public majority in favour of gay marriage rights, so it became safe for him to vote for gay marriage. if something the government does proves extremely unpopular, they usually back off; the exception being partial sale of state assets. However, since those assets were already being run as capitalist enterprises anyway, it wasn’t like he was doing what Labour and National did in the 1984-1993 period (see: http://rdln.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/state-companies-capitalism-and-the-left-a-marxist-view/)

    Chunks of the left made themselves look rather silly and nutty by banging on about him being some kind of fanatical neoliberal. Thankfully, more people on the left are now grasping just how pragmatic a politician he is, and that’s what the malaise-ridden NZ economy needs right now (from the viewpoint of capital).
    http://rdln.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/the-key-english-government-in-the-context-of-capital-accumulation-in-new-zealand-today/

    It’s all about managing the malaise:
    https://rdln.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/keys-vision-managing-the-malaise-of-new-zealand-capitalism/

    Phil

    • Olwyn 6.1
      6 January 2015 at 12:07 pm

      Philip, it may be that Key is not a rabid neo-liberal, and it may also be that he seeking to add respectability to his wealth. But it looks to me as if he is happy to financialise every square inch of NZ, since that is something he understands, and is indifferent to the ruin of the real economy. Moreover, he is not much concerned with the people whose vote he doesn’t need, so the poorest are squeezed on every front – wages, housing, and living costs, etc, while the otherwise precarious middle class are consoled with inflated property values. Overall, he seems more of a corporate CEO than a PM, with a similar tendency not to look too far beyond his own tenure.

    • Brendon Harre 6.2
      6 January 2015 at 12:51 pm

      Philip I think there is clear evidence that National under Key has morphed from the blind promotion of the free market a decade or so ago, which you rightly points out doesn’t exist. Markets are a creation of society, they require a huge amount of social support that in a modern economy comes from the State.

      So Key has backed away from that. What does National support now? Crony capitalism, the National party has been captured by the interests of unproductive capital. John Key is so desperate to successfully leave his social background and join a new ‘class’ in society that he cannot tell the difference between the parasites and productive within that class.

      This is most clearly seen in Christchurch a crony paradise for the National party. Landlords are receiving 43% more in suburban rents compared to pre earthquakes. Yet the National party spent hundreds of millions buying up land in the CBD with the specific purpose of ensuring commercial property values did not fall. One of the main beneficiaries of this is Philip Carter who owns the land that will get the commercial spin off from tax and rate payer largess on an oversized convention centre. Philip Carter is brother to David Carter -the Speaker and uncle to National MP Matt Doocey.

      It is not just what National are doing, it is what they are not doing that proves they are captured by the interests of unproductive capital.

      National could have easily spent the money (rather than on the CBD) on compulsory buying farmland adjacent to the city at rural prices so that affordable land for affordable homes for the red-zoners could be purchased.

      That would have stopped the massive inflation in land prices in Canterbury that benefits unproductive capital and is a cost to workers and productive capital.

      My general solution is not some sort of mindless sprawl, rather decentralisation and affordable development along the lines of good quality Northern European Local Government.

      Yesterday Sacha said I should stop drinking this right-wing Kool-Aid. I don’t think this is right wing and I don’t think it is Kool-Aid.

      Go to http://thestandard.org.nz/steady-on/#comment-947274 and follow the links for proof.

      • Brendon Harre 6.2.1
        6 January 2015 at 1:03 pm

        It is also interesting how little John Key talks about Rebuilding Canterbury.

        The Canterbury earthquakes will have greater historical significance to NZ than he will. A hundred years from now and most kiwis will still know something about the Canterbury Earthquakes but they will have forgotten John Key.

        Why does John Key talk so little about Canterbury? Is it about escaping who he was? Maybe he doesn’t want attention focusing on the crony makeover of the region? Maybe it is just poll driven. Saying New Zealand gets more votes than saying Canterbury or Christchurch.

      • Sacha 6.2.2
        6 January 2015 at 1:18 pm

        I meant focusing only on land supply is crazy. Totally agree it would have made more sense to use CERA’s extra powers to ensure housing supply for displaced red-zoners (and construction workforce) rather than further enrich existing owners elsewhere in the region. However, they would have had to tackle the financing/workforce/supplies aspects as well.

        • Brendon Harre 6.2.2.1
          6 January 2015 at 3:47 pm

          Sacha the first Labour government success was built on land supply. That was how State housing was built. The dirty little secret about affordable housing is that it can be done by State (at any level -local or central) or the private sector. The important factor is to have access to the cheapest available land, that is usually farmland. When the cheapest available land is forbidden then this allows the unproductive property owning rentier sector to exploit the whole system for enormous capital gains.

          John Key would rather hang out with the $800,000+ house group who have ‘made it’ in the likes of Matakana village rather than the young workers struggling to ‘make it’ in a housing market that will make them mortgage slaves for the rest of their lives.

          That is the story about the expanding inequality divide in NZ and it is quite clear what side John Key stands on.

          Read about Auckland’s Forgotten City to see an alternative type of sprawl.

          http://www.thesustainabilitysociety.org.nz/conference/2007/papers/HARRIS-Lost%20City.pdf

          Housing is going to be the political battleground. It is important the ‘Left’ informs the public of the true choices.

          • Sacha 6.2.2.1.1
            6 January 2015 at 5:16 pm

            “the first Labour government success was built on land supply. That was how State housing was built.”

            The paper you link to explicitly discusses deliberate low-interest state finance arrangements as a component of early state housing. It’s not an either-or thing, but we need to be smarter than supporting right-wing talking points about the problem being those big bad councils making infrastructure provision including transport more efficient by building cities up rather than out.

            Auckland is already multi-hubbed with ten major centres across the region and many more smaller town centres in between. Sprawl into prime growing land on the outskirts is all this government is offering, and what the media are slurping without question.

            And notably on p5 of Chris Harris’ paper, discussing the 1940s vision:

            “The actual extent of sprawl was to be
            contained; the idea of an urban growth boundary is as prominent in plans of that era as it is
            today.”

            • Brendon Harre 6.2.2.1.1.1
              6 January 2015 at 5:47 pm

              Sacha I have spent hundreds of hours over the last few years investigating housing.

              You can do ‘up and out’ together affordably. But not just ‘up’.

              Affordable housing, transport and local/regional government reform should not be the preserve of the right. The left have a positive message to sell too.

              ‘Out’ doesn’t have be road only as a transport option. Transit orientated development that facilitates public transport and walking/cycling can be effective. If this is provided from the outset, housing tends to be notably different, houses are smaller because they only have one car garages/carport and smaller driveways.

              Urbanisation is the lesser threat to high quality farm land. Life style blocks are the big consumer. “There are 175,000 lifestyle blocks in New Zealand covering 873 000 ha, and these, along with urbanisation, potentially constrain future land productivity. Lifestyle blocks occupy 10% of New Zealand’s high-class land….” http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/planspoliciesprojects/plansstrategies/unitaryplan/Documents/Section32report/Appendices/Appendix%203.35.22.pdf

              Life style blocks are basically ultra low density housing. There is no way that 175,000 blocks are being used as small scale farms.

              The situation in NZ is if you are rich and can afford to buy 4 hectares (10 acres) which is usually the minimum size a Council will consider is a rural farm you can buy land that approximates rural prices.

              If you are poor or middle income and need to work in an urban area then you will pay nearly as much but for a land area around 1/20th or smaller in size.

              Urbanisation is not a ‘bad’ and farming is not a ‘good’. I thinking I could design a urban area that was less polluting and had a more sustainable ecology than say a dairy farm it replaced.

              • Sacha …
                6 January 2015 at 6:03 pm

                I agree with everything you say there – and the Auckland Plan reflects that mix. I fear it is about to be up-ended by this government of ideological, provincial fools.

                “Urbanisation is the lesser threat to high quality farm land. Life style blocks are the big consumer.”

                Interesting. Thank you.

              • Sacha …
                6 January 2015 at 6:06 pm

                “housing tends to be notably different”

                And also because it assumes there will be public provision of park spaces and suchlike to balance the lack of personal 1/4 acre yards. Hence planning of land and transport need to be well-integrated and forward-looking.

                • Brendon Harre …
                  6 January 2015 at 6:51 pm

                  Yep, You are onto it Sacha. My personal favoured approach to fixing housing affordability is to take lessons from Germany.

                  http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2011/06/how-germany-achieved-stable-affordable-housing/

                  People who have lived in Germany have reported seeing construction workers in new sub-divisions catch public transport to work!

                • karol …
                  6 January 2015 at 7:07 pm

                  The multi-level apartment block recently built in the centre of New Lynn is very interesting. People are now living in them, and, from the outside at ground level they look to offer a very attractive life-style – especially those with balconies.

                  I notice there’s enough room on the balconies for a barbecue & a couple of arm chairs. And the view from the higher levels must be quite extensive across the city. The block is in the middle of a commercial area, so doesn’t steal the light of any near residential neighbours.

                  The block is above and next to shops, a mall, and various outdoor spaces, plus is right next to a railway station and a bus terminal, a library and a community centre.

                  • Sacha …
                    6 January 2015 at 7:14 pm

                    and Auckland’s Deputy Mayor is a tenant..

                  • mickysavage …
                    6 January 2015 at 7:20 pm

                    Yep Waitakere City spent a lot of time thinking about sustainability. If you look at Henderson Central you can see similar things happening there. If you contrast the way the West developed with Manukau City the contrast is startling.

                    • Sacha …
                      6 January 2015 at 7:46 pm

                      And only the West responded to the draft Unitary Plan by supporting increased denisty in their neighbourhoods. They deserve an equivelent share of investment in publc spaces and connections over coming decades.

                    • mickysavage …
                      6 January 2015 at 8:47 pm

                      I wish Sacha …

                    • Ad …
                      7 January 2015 at 12:22 am

                      The west is getting done like a dinner under Supercity.

                      Getting nada other than what was underway during Waitakere:
                      transport, regional parks, local parks, libraries, social housing, economic development, you name it. Auckland’s west has gone backwards in both political voice and in social cohesion and damn near everything.

              • greywarshark …
                6 January 2015 at 8:41 pm

                Better planning for housing isn’t only about whether urbanisation can be less polluting than a dairy farm it covers. It is also about leaving farm land available for food growing. We don’t want land clearances here where the peasant vegetable or produce growers are swept off their land by foraces they can’t resist.

                And having land cut off from housing speculation, by zoning it out so that its out of the spic-specs hands. Which means that the land isn’t gradually inflating in value. Which aids the ability of a grower to make an income in today’s constricted, usually supermarket dominated, contracting environment. Numbers of main vege growers have shrunk alarmingly over the years.

                • Brendon Harre …
                  6 January 2015 at 9:45 pm

                  If you wanted to protect market gardens around cities. Zone that small area permanently rural. But don’t make some huge area off limits that completely surrounds a city which inevitably will be relaxed at some point (like what has happened with the housing accords).

                  Land bankers knowing this buy up close in land like market gardens, inflating land prices, not because they are interested in growing food but because they can guess which land will be rezoned urban.

                  Note this is why the Housing Accords will not work. The options are either get rid of 90% of the rural zone land and flood the market. Alternatively the government steps into the market and compulsory purchases farmland at rural prices for something like KiwiBuild.

                  • greywarshark …
                    6 January 2015 at 10:11 pm

                    Alternatively the government steps into the market and compulsory purchases farmland at rural prices for something like KiwiBuild.
                    Sounds like a good idea, why can’t we?

                    • Brendon Harre …
                      6 January 2015 at 10:28 pm

                      I don’t know. The housing situation is getting to crisis levels, the average house price in Auckland is $700,000 that is ridiculous. We should be trying whatever works.

                      Join Andre Little’s housing campaign and lets all get together and do something about it.

                    • Sacha …
                      6 January 2015 at 10:33 pm

                      *median* price is over $700k now.

                      and sustainable city-regions are planned including supply of food and water, much to the annoyance of Rodney, Franklin et al.

                      – certainly a legitimate interest of our Council.

                    • greywarshark …
                      7 January 2015 at 11:11 am

                      @ Brendon Harre
                      The speakers on adionz this am explained the rise (of $90,000 in a year?) of the median house price in Auckland, as a contrived result because of low deposit buyers, probably looking for first homes, not able to buy the almost affordable houses for themselves. So only the rent speculators and the buyers with larger pockets were active.

                      You sound in your comments re the USA to be talking about a market where private is the channel to housing. If we had controlled state housing building being pursued all the time, at a regular and moderate level when the economy was high, and increased when the economy was low, selling some on licence or whatever, which meant that government would buy back at an agreed valuation method, it would be sensible provision for keeping stocks up for first-home and poorer people. It would keep the market from the over-heating bubbles and building pleasant, practical ordinary houses for families of up to 4 bedroom for individuals and couples of 2 bedrooms, would provide useful stimulus and training in recessions. Unfortunately gummint doesn’t do its job providing stable, good housing for all, in a sensible, prudent way.

                      I’m reading a book Dogs and Demons on Japan publ. 2005 by Alex Kerr. On housing it is interesting, plus he makes a connection with the poor and housing affecting nation-building.
                      On housing: ..strong state policy rests on cramped and poorly built housing (affecting poor people)….A crucial part of this economy is the principle of poor people, strong state…[which] is a classic military approach to governance… (He then quotes Spartan approaches which embraced basic conditions and eschewed luxury for the poor.)

                      He then cuts through myths about Japan having limited suitable land for its population. Housing is expensive. One reason are the restrictive laws on land and building design. He notes that homes in early 1990s carried mortgages binding families for three generations. …the people are forced to save; banks then channel these savings at low interest to industry. Government there could do this, because of their high control of the economy and banks.

                      These points reflect the same problems we have here, Intelligent planning required, traditionally held ideas need questioning, resistance to buildings of multi-storeys, a lack of interest in people’s needs for a comfortable home in attractive surroundings.
                      (Private provision in Japan has resulted in poorly insulated, plastic extruded homes, with little style differentiation, coloured grey, replacing the previous character homes but with little improvement in amenities.)

                  • Sacha …
                    6 January 2015 at 10:20 pm

                    How have other nations dealt with land-bankers?

                    • Brendon Harre …
                      6 January 2015 at 11:55 pm

                      In the US cities where medium house prices are only three times medium incomes there is freedom to splatter sprawl. Land bankers cannot corner that big an area. A developer who wants to create a new town or subdivision just waits for a farm to come naturally onto the market through the usual process (Death, illness, retirement, divorce…) they do not get into bidding wars with land bankers.

                      Some US cities have special municipalities that can be created by developers/home buyers that provide additional competition, which assists in providing affordable housing.

                      Also a lot of US cities have liberal planning rules to assist the intensification process (going up). So Epsom type NIMBYs do not get much of a hearing.

                      In Sweden and Netherlands they used to frequently resort to compulsory purchase. Germany does it occasionally but more for strategic purchases to break log jams or where land is broken into too many small parcels. Mostly Germany is not that different to the US in its ‘freedom to build’ policy. It is actually in its constitution. Germany has a lot of competing local jurisdictions that assists in providing affordable housing.

                      The UK is a land banking paradise.

                      Singapore has leasehold land so the State can always force through needed property developments but it is such a special case being a small island.

                      Hong Kong, New Zealand under the First Labour Government, Japan and other places did variations on State agencies providing transit orientated developments where the state buys the land for the rail/bus lane right of ways plus the land around the stations for intensive housing developments.

                      Japan we think also retained ownership of some of this housing, and by acting in the public interest (something JK could try) could be a partial break on property speculation. This might explain how they have managed to slowly deflate the 80s property bubble. Tokyo now has the cheapest housing of all the mega-cities and in fact is now much cheaper than Auckland in relation medium income despite being over ten times larger.

                      Japan also has a lot of tolerance for ‘choatic’ local communities where small business are on intermingled with residences and additions, alterations, expansions and improvements can be done without fear of NIMBYsm.

                      There doesn’t seem to be one solution. Some of this seems cultural. A willingness to give opportunities to the next generation.

                      There is a German saying, “The city air makes you free”.

                    • Brendon Harre …
                      7 January 2015 at 4:02 am

                      There is so many solutions to affordable housing, above is just the measures other countries take against land bankers, there are more issues to be dealt with. Such as foreign buyers/ absentee landowners, the building duopoly and the boom/bust construction cycle discouraging investment in skills and improved production processes.

                      The fact that none of these are being dealt with indicates a lack of political will. This lack of political will is the primary problem for affordable housing in New Zealand.

                      John Key and National are a ‘property friendly government’, landlords and property investors are gleefully saying so on websites like interest.co.nz.

                      National is not worker friendly or even productive capital friendly and that includes farmers who not directly affect by unaffordable housing do suffer from high interest and exchange rates because of the property boom.

        • Brendon Harre 6.2.2.2
          6 January 2015 at 4:17 pm

          If the government did something like this in Auckland for struggling workers seeking affordable areas to live/work.

          http://transportblog.co.nz/2015/01/06/auckland-vs-perth-rail-comparison-updated/#comment-150702

          This captures the spirit of the First Labour government and the City that was Lost. There would be plenty of ‘land supply’ to keep housing affordable.

          Instead John Key has his holiday highway for his mates up Matakana way to get to their holiday and retirement homes a bit faster.

          No wonder when John parades around Matakana market he gets such a good reception.

          (John Campbell’s eating with the leaders 3.40min http://www.3news.co.nz/tvshows/campbelllive/at-home-with-the-leaders-john-and-bronagh-key-2014040719#axzz3O0W0HHMM ) It is really worth watching this video through to about the 11minute mark because John shows he really understands how the worker is getting squeezed and families require wage subsidies -Working for Families and the Accommodation supplement. He just refuses to take the next step -why do workers need a wage subsidy -the cost of housing. Because John Key will not do anything that will bring down property values.

          Those Matakana guys know which side John is on.

          What a tosser.

          • Tracey 6.2.2.2.1
            6 January 2015 at 5:55 pm

            and in holiday times it is not much faster… 3hours for a 1 hour 25 min journey, and not on a busy holiday end day

          • Sacha 6.2.2.2.2
            6 January 2015 at 7:49 pm

            Transport Blog reported about $18,000,000,000 in land-banking at stake along the ‘Holiday Highway’ route. I have no reason to doubt them.

      • Miracle Worker 6.2.3
        6 January 2015 at 5:03 pm

        In 2011, Ross George, director of Direct Capital Ltd, purchased 82.80% of Scales Corporation from the South Canterbury Finance receivership, for $44 million.

        NZ Super Fund and ACC were gifted the rest of the shares in the company.

        In that year, the company was *conservatively* valued at $74 million, having returned a profit of @$13.6 million, which made Ross George’s purchase of more than 80% of the company for $44 million, a gift: http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/scales-corp-posts-136-mln-profit-2012-cuts-debt-50-percent-bd-141140

        In late 2014, he publicly listed Scales Corporation on the NZX and raised $149 million from the sale of his shares, a profit of $105 million ( or considerably more than 200% ROI ) in less than two years.

        Companies Office records show that Ross George lives at 104 St Stephens Avenue, Parnell: http://www.business.govt.nz/companies/app/ui/pages/companies/2181840/directors?backurl=%2Fcompanies%2Fapp%2Fui%2Fpages%2Fcompanies%2Fsearch%3Fmode%3Dstandard%26type%3Dentities%26q%3Ddirect%2520capital

        John Key lives at 105 St Stephens Avenue, Parnell: http://wikimapia.org/23324637/PM-John-Key-s-Parnell-Residence

        • Brendon Harre 6.2.3.1
          6 January 2015 at 5:18 pm

          It is also another example of crony capitalism taking advantage of disasters where the losses are socialised -the $1.6 billion dollar bailout by the taxpayer to South Canterbury Finance but the profits are privatised.

          I wonder who Ross George votes for and if he makes campaign contributions?

          This is why the greater number of ordinary kiwis need to get behind Labour’s housing campaign and make small contributions. Collectively we can beat the bastards but if we act individually we are screwed.

        • greywarshark 6.2.3.2
          6 January 2015 at 8:44 pm

          After reading you Miracle, the scales fell from my eyes.

        • mickysavage 6.2.3.3
          6 January 2015 at 8:51 pm

          Thanks MW …

        • dv 6.2.3.4
          7 January 2015 at 3:02 pm

          And that is part of the reason why there will be NO investigation into SCF

    • Sacha 6.3
      6 January 2015 at 12:56 pm

      “Key is a working class boy made good.” – a well-spun Nat myth. His mother grew up in a wealthy merchant family before coming to NZ, and those are the values he absorbed at the dinner table.

      • Once wasTim 6.3.1
        6 January 2015 at 1:32 pm

        Glad you pointed that out Sacha – someone needed to counter the Crosby Textor spin. That entire ‘state house’ poor little boy narrative is, and always was bullshit. If we had decent investigative journalists in NZ, they might well undertake a project in which they talk to some of his former colleagues in that ‘banking sector’, and where he gained the title of being the “smiling assassin” His colleagues couldn’t even understand him half the time (lazy mumbling speech). Luck and animal cunning is the only reason we’re not witnessing John Key as the South Pacific’s Nick Leeson – that roll of the dice could just as easily gone that way.

        • TheContrarian 6.3.1.1
          6 January 2015 at 4:29 pm

          “That entire ‘state house’ poor little boy narrative is, and always was bullshit.”

          Did John Key not grow up in a state house and was not poor?

          • Sacha 6.3.1.1.1
            6 January 2015 at 5:00 pm

            Social capital – look it up.

          • phillip ure 6.3.1.1.2
            6 January 2015 at 5:36 pm

            ..to show where key comes from..

            ..a great-uncle..(or the like)..at a post-war auction of the belongings of goebbels..at sothebys..

            ..purchased the massive/ornate bed that had belonged to goebbels..

            ..i don’t think too many working-class-battlers were even there on the day..

            ..let alone bidding in that auction..

            ..or would have had rooms large enough to fit that bed..

            ..that john key and his mother were in a state house was a family-aberration..

            ..and key was deeply ashamed of it at the time..

            ..and since then has been over-compensating..

            • TheContrarian 6.3.1.1.2.1
              6 January 2015 at 5:39 pm

              So what? I have cousin who is a multi millionaire which says nothing of my wealth. I have an auntie who is the CE of a large well known organisation and I didn’t grow up wealthy or better of because of it

            • TheContrarian 6.3.1.1.2.2
              6 January 2015 at 5:41 pm

              ..and key was deeply ashamed of it at the time..

              Citation needed (also I’m sure a lot of people poor and on a state house may feel ashamed – rightly or wrongly)

              • Tracey …
                6 January 2015 at 5:54 pm

                i would like to know this too, I didn’t read Roughan’s book, maybe it is in there, Phil???

                • phillip ure …
                  6 January 2015 at 6:19 pm

                  haven’t read it..

                  ..i am allergic to rightwing hagiographies..

                  ..i come out in a stress-rash..

                  • TheContrarian …
                    6 January 2015 at 7:37 pm

                    For a second time on this page Phil makes a claim, is asked for a citation to back it up and doesn’t bother to address it.

                    A recurring theme…

              • greywarshark …
                6 January 2015 at 8:48 pm

                At that time people weren’t made to feel bad and lowere income because they had some help from the state. That is the sort of sentiment that flows from the elitist USA.

          • Tracey 6.3.1.1.3
            6 January 2015 at 5:53 pm

            TC, I understand he lived in a state house and his mother received a widow pension as well as working. I don’t know if we measured poverty back then, his Government doesn’t today though.

          • Once wasTim 6.3.1.1.4
            7 January 2015 at 12:17 am

            he did – As did many others. They also had outhouses and bogs in the backyard more often than not. Some even had to journey to traders to pick up bloody big blocks of ice to place in wooden ‘ice-boxes’ before Mr Kelvinator pushed his white ware. (Some even walked 5 miles to school and 5 miles home everyday with cardboard in the soles of their shoes – but did they complain?). Blah blah blah. What Key (or rather his spin meisters – such as yourself) was attempting to portray was that his circumstance was harder than the average bloke, when in fact in many ways he was a lot more fortunate – but always the good bullshit artist eh @ Contrarian?
            Don’t we have a fekchecka that visits this site on occasion? Oh no, that’s right – PG is too busy being measured up for his next crimplene beige leisure suit

    • Murray Rawshark 6.4
      6 January 2015 at 9:48 pm

      I think Key is not a fanatical neoliberal because capital learned from the GFC that the greed and incompetence of the free market leads to disaster for their financial institutions. They needed the state to bail them out and provide further opportunities for them through fire sales of assets and the mechanisms of crony capitalism. They’ve seen that their goals become far too obvious when left to their own devices, so they need an ordinary bloke PM to keep the great unwashed and the ashprishnuls calm while they use the state to further enrich themselves. In 2007 Key would have been totally in synch with Roger Douglas. Their ideology changes when a new one can make them more money.

  7. Once wasTim 7
    6 January 2015 at 12:16 pm

    One word sums up John Key for me – and that’s opportunist – no matter what the cost to anyone other than himself. An opportunist for personal gain. I know I’m at odds with the commentariat when I say I don’t believe Key is the sharpest knife in the drawer – but then I draw a distinction between intelligence – which involves the need for critical thought processes, and animal cunning – which is more about survival instincts. Like many of his ilk (the used car salesman; the dealing room banker/insider trader Joe; the bizznuss-leader/job-creator; etc., etc., etc.) – one learns the lingo, and with enough confidence and arrogance ….. you know the rest
    He’s also quite bloody lazy – lazy speech, lazy mind – propped up by a few disciples who fawn all over the poor man-made-good narrative.
    And in many ways, Steven Joyce is a more dangerous proposition than Key is. Btw – anyone hear that RNZ doco on student radio the other day in which Joyce featured (along with others)?

    • Draco T Bastard 7.1
      6 January 2015 at 2:01 pm

      He’s also quite bloody lazy – lazy speech, lazy mind – propped up by a few disciples who fawn all over the poor man-made-good narrative.

      QFT

      I suspect he was one of those people who believe that politicians don’t actually do any work and then he became PM and found out that they actually work harder than he’s ever worked in his life.

      • Leftie 7.1.1
        6 January 2015 at 6:36 pm

        Didn’t John key say, after becoming PM, that he didn’t know that he had to read so much !!

        Can you imagine the field day, ( that would have never ended), the media would have had, if a Labour PM had of said that?

    • thechangeling 7.2
      6 January 2015 at 3:10 pm

      Yeah i listened to the doco that championed Joyce as the saviour of student radio by separating the funding of them from Student Unions so as to be run “more independently” and “on their own two feet”.
      Was a complete load of codswallop as per usual. Collectively funding a major contributor to student culture and training future radio hosts has yet again been over looked as the neo-liberal model of development has been argued as much fairer and cheaper overall for students. Can’t have every student contributing a meagre $10 a semester for news, views and music aimed directly in their interests can we? God no, that might actually be participatory democracy!

    • disturbed 7.3
      6 January 2015 at 8:56 pm

      100% Once was Tim,

      “Steven Joyce is a more dangerous proposition than Key is”.

      Yes he makes Key look like a Sunday school teacher.

      Steven Joyce is akin to a ruthless master Propagandist.

      He is a excessively a dominating character as seen with the TV debate with Grant Robertson remember how he was so overbearing almost like a Gestapo interrogator right?

      That video made me sick to watch.

      http://www.3news.co.nz/tvshows/thenation/debate-grant-robertson-and-steven-joyce-on-the-wealth-of-the-nation-2014080211#axzz3O1fOhVB8

    • Murray Rawshark 7.4
      6 January 2015 at 10:41 pm

      I agree with you about Key. I’m certainly not impressed by his intellect. I don’t have much of an impression of Joyce apart from the debate with Robertson, where he just seemed a deranged idiot.

  8. Draco T Bastard 8
    6 January 2015 at 1:25 pm

    It has been mentioned only three times and on one of those occasions Key said that there were more important issues than climate change.

    FJK Obviously doesn’t want to remind people that we’ve gone backwards in our efforts to head off climate change under National.

    Other subjects such as “schools”, “farming”, “wages” and “crime” have plummeted in their use.

    Yeah and the reasons would be, at a guess,

    1. That everyone except the farmers are pissed off with the pollution and other environmental damage done by the farmers while they get massive government subsidies
    2. Everyone except the National Party are pissed off with their continually falling incomes
    3. Most people are beginning to realise that crime is only a minor factor in their lives and that law-n-order types are really just looking for more excuses for more mass spying on the populace.

    National has made things worse for NZers and FJK is trying to hide that fact by not mentioning it.

    • Treetop 8.1
      6 January 2015 at 3:10 pm

      What really worries me about the government, is that I do not think that they are fully aware about how dire housing is, and how many people cannot get on a public hospital waiting list for surgery.

      • Tracey 8.1.1
        6 January 2015 at 3:13 pm

        they have multiple homes, including holiday and investment, and private health schemes…

      • Paul 8.1.2
        6 January 2015 at 3:14 pm

        They are aware.
        They don’t care.

        • Treetop 8.1.2.1
          6 January 2015 at 3:21 pm

          I thought that caring about housing and health care for ALL New Zealanders is core government business.

          I would like to know what the government thinks is core business?

          • One Anonymous Bloke 8.1.2.1.1
            6 January 2015 at 3:36 pm

            Its owners’ instructions.

          • Tracey 8.1.2.1.2
            6 January 2015 at 3:46 pm

            a surplus… they measure things only in financial terms…

            money first… money first.

          • Draco T Bastard 8.1.2.1.3
            6 January 2015 at 5:35 pm

            I thought that caring about housing and health care for ALL New Zealanders is core government business.

            It is – unless the government is National in which case the purpose of government is to enrich the already rich and blame everyone else while punishing them for being poor.

  9. Leftie 9
    6 January 2015 at 2:13 pm

    At the end of the day, (another phrase he frequently uses), whatever John key says, it’s all propaganda and bullshit isn’t it?

  10. Treetop 10
    6 January 2015 at 3:03 pm

    Key’s next line is going to be, nice that the cricket world cup is on, (without blinking) 20,000 state homes are going to be sold off, (rubbing his hands together).

  11. Tracey 11
    6 January 2015 at 3:06 pm

    he dropped secret services cos it became too hard. tourism is more his version of meet a celebrity… our clean green image has been hammered.

    he is a small boy on the inside who still thinks the measure of the man is who he is seen with… one mr alex swney of heart of the city is very similar and it has caught up with him (i know him through marriage)…

    the thing key most admired and was a bit envious of was Helen Clark’s Rolodex… says it all

    you dont drop a golf handicap from the 20’s to low teens and single figures without a lot of playing, cheating or both.

    • Sacha 11.1
      6 January 2015 at 4:56 pm

      “he is a small boy on the inside who still thinks the measure of the man is who he is seen with”

      A few in cabinet share that affliction, and we all suffer for it.

    • Ad 11.2
      6 January 2015 at 5:31 pm

      He’s in the early bit of his third term having overcome a crisis that would have sunk most other governments flat.

      And looking like he’s ready for a fourth. He is more in command of this caucus and across more portfolios than Clark ever was – she had H2 and Cullen, which Key definitely does not have.

      • Leftie 11.2.1
        6 January 2015 at 6:29 pm

        What makes you think he’s overcome the crisis?
        Like you said “He’s in the early bit of his third term…”

        • Ad 11.2.1.1
          7 January 2015 at 12:18 am

          Poll tracking since election.

          • Leftie 11.2.1.1.1
            7 January 2015 at 5:11 pm

            It’s called propaganda, and he certainly didn’t get anywhere near that in the recent election, did he?

            John key has a permanent stink attached to him, and a lot can still happen in the next 3 years.

      • Anne 11.2.2
        6 January 2015 at 7:52 pm

        He’s in the early bit of his third term having overcome a crisis that would have sunk most other governments flat.

        If you’re referring to DP Ad, then he only overcame it because he lied through his teeth day after day and the journos knew it and yet not one of them took him up on his lying. Instead they stood around him each day – expressionless and silent – as if they were playing a predetermined role. They not only let him get clean away with it, most bought into the lying meme even though they knew it was lies. They allowed him to crucify Hager for telling the truth, even though Hager is one of them (a journalist) and they knew Hager was telling the truth.

        Now, in my book Key can only get away with that level of malfeasance once. Next time it will be doubly hard for him to succeed… and there will be a next time. He also has Little to contend with now and Andrew Little is not afraid of John Key.

      • Sacha 11.2.3
        7 January 2015 at 3:55 pm

        “He is more in command of this caucus and across more portfolios than Clark ever was – she had H2 and Cullen, which Key definitely does not have.”

        Key has Eagleson and English performing the same functions. If anything, he’s *less* across even his own portfolios. Not that it seems to matter.

  12. sir pat 12
    6 January 2015 at 3:38 pm

    All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of POWER and not truth…….Nietzsche………short answer

    • Ad 12.1
      6 January 2015 at 5:29 pm

      Nietzsche connects to John Key how exactly?

      • DoublePlusGood 12.1.1
        6 January 2015 at 9:51 pm

        I guess the quote itself was a bit complex for you and went over your head.

        • Ad 12.1.1.1
          7 January 2015 at 12:15 am

          Which part of which Nietzsche book is is quoting from, and how does it relate?

          Was a pretty simple question.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 12.1.1.1.1
            7 January 2015 at 7:56 am

            The quote isn’t about Nietzsche or John Key: it’s about the way power distorts the way truth is interpreted.

            That said, Einstein put it better when he noted the significance of the observer’s relative position.

            In the long term, power dies. Facts don’t.

            PS: Oh, and you’re right: the quote is falsely attributed to Neitszche 😆

          • sir pat 12.1.1.1.2
            7 January 2015 at 1:53 pm

            well whilst accurate of his views you are right….not said by him exactly like this but widely put out there as by him…..however still an apt description of FJK and his ilk methinks…..apologies if it offends the purists

  13. phillip ure 13
    6 January 2015 at 4:45 pm

    and it must be a relief to key to get back to his home in hawaii..

    .after his periods here at his fly-in/out job..

    ..we are his west australian mine…

  14. Ad 14
    6 January 2015 at 5:34 pm

    Key doesn’t have to believe in anything.

    The momentum of the earthquakes, Pike River, Rugby World Cup, The Hobbit, and now Cricket World Cup and World Masters Games will be enough. It’s excellent political luck.

    You don’t have to believe in anything when the deals and the publicity and the political work come to you.

  15. Ecosse_Maidy 15
    6 January 2015 at 9:00 pm

    Things John Keys has NEVER said…………………………

    It is my fault, I apologize.

    I really will work tirelessly for the benefit of all in Our Country.

    There is no way your doing that to my country Obama.

    Lets lower GST or better still take that tax off meat , vegetables..bread and milk.

    Lets offer the true hand of friendship to the Green Party.

    Lets get rid of those speed cameras as they haven’t lowered the death toll and are stealing out of everyones pockets.

    Lets get families into homes by assisting them.

    Lets not spend all our holidays in Hawaii..Lets go to the West Coast..Where I am loved.

    You know what Darling, stuff this comb over I am going to go slap head and live with it!

    Jesus on a fooking motorbike…my balls just dropped.

    I did not have sex with Paula.

    I did not have sex with Judith.

    I did not have sex with Judith and Paula.

    Sky TV isn’t reporting the facts anymore.

    Lets make it fair and equal.

    I have a man crush on Andrew Little and Sonny Bill Wiliams’

    Darling? what the hell did you do with those tapes i gave you for safe keeping at that Tea Room?I want them published.

    and last but not least.. Pete George is a bloody genius hire him now!

  16. b waghorn 16
    6 January 2015 at 9:13 pm

    I think key truly believe’s that big business and open global market is the path to travel down .
    Trading is all the man knows and he’s willing to gamble big .
    In a world that classes having money as being a success people are drawn to him.

  17. disturbed 17
    7 January 2015 at 7:28 am

    John Key believes in total control of us sleepy hobbits.

    Consider this;
    Noticed how gagged the TVNZ/RNZ has been over the start of the worst Global economic crash in the past three days?

    Reminiscent of TVNZ RNZ both being the master trumpet for the NatZ Government around election time when this public run MSM failed to cover the serious leaks of 9th Floor beehive Jason Ede spying with the PM’s office.

    Today Wednesday the third day of monumental losses happening around all the world’s stock markets that this morning even CNBC the business channel is even trumpeting a historic economic crash is again here, as is BBC saying but our Hobbit TV one is quietly talking about rubbish backfill while the markets are burning.

    I fear the public media is actually gaged for Government purposes interests only. CNBC just announced this global stock market crash is the worst start to any year in history.

    Where is our public free press? Steven Joyce as Goebbels did in 1933 is at play here using our public media for his and his puppet master’s propaganda use

    • One Anonymous Bloke 17.1
      7 January 2015 at 7:53 am

      A bear market hardly qualifies as “the worst Global economic crash” these days. Where are the failed banks seeking handouts?

  18. NZJester 18
    7 January 2015 at 12:56 pm

    Analysing what’s in John Keys speeches will give you no idea about what he believes in. All you will see is what his carefully crafted speech writing committee what you to see.
    Analysing what he says when he is not scripted shows a totally different John key to the one put forward in his speeches. It shows a man with no compassion for a grieving mother who lost her son and instead only showing compassion to a man for the backlash he received over writing nasty comments about her son in the media.
    It shows a man who said he was willing to offer an apology to a rape victim when he did not know their name but as soon as that person outed themselves to the media changes his story so he does not have to issue an apology.
    John Key has only shown sympathy and apologised to one person while trying to hide it. A person who deserves no-one’s compassion or apologies after what he has done to others.

  19. Sable 19
    8 January 2015 at 10:40 am

    I personally think Keys does not believe in anything save making money for himself at any cost.