Will the Christian Conservatives rise again?

Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, May 20th, 2019 - 78 comments
Categories: abortion, Abuse of power, australian politics, climate change, democracy under attack, Environment, global warming, International, Mining, national, new conservatives, religion, same old national, science, Simon Bridges, sustainability, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

National will be licking its lips and thinking that the Australian election will provide them with a roadmap to how to succeed in 2020.

There are a few takeaways.  They need to make sure that a right wing megalomaniac controls the majority of the media and will instruct his channels to spew out anti left propaganda.  And a well financed extreme right wing party will help.

And don’t forget the local.  Labor was hit hard in Queensland probably because of the Adani mine project.

In the adjoining seats the three LNP members of parliament had swings to them of up to 15% converting former marginal seats into safe seats.

The Adani mine shows everything that is wrong with Australian politics.  Put aside the fact that if completed it would release huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere as well as wreck the Great Barrier reef not to mention fragile local habitats it makes no economic sense whatsoever.  The price of coal is crashing.  No merchant bank would go near the project, it appears that even merchant banks have minimum ethical standards.

Adani claimed originally that 10,000 jobs would be created but this has subsequently been reduced to 1,468.  Spending billions to create so few jobs makes no sense.

It also had open rights to use artesian water, that commodity that will become more and more valuable in Australia.  It has been estimated that the mine would use 4.6 billion litres of water a year.  Consent was rushed through by the LNP three days before the election even though the report relied on had major faults.  From the Conversation thread linked to above:

Details leaked to the ABC showed the review actually found that Adani’s modelling was “not suitable to ensure the outcomes sought by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Protection Act are met” and that advice for the approval was rushed through in a single afternoon.  

The review found that the modelling was “not sufficiently robust”, over-predicting flows back into the aquifiers it was drawing on and using incorrect measurements for calibration.

The mine owner had also sought a billion dollar government loan to pay for the required rail infrastructure.  Thankfully the Queensland Labor Government has killed this off.

The project should be terminal and put to death. Instead of this it has arguably helped return an incompetent inhumane right wing Government back to power.

But don’t be surprised if we see some similar sort of issue arise in New Zealand.  In fact off sea oil drilling in Taranaki is already serving this function for National.

The other aspect is the role of minor parties.  Clive Palmer’s United Australia party spent $60 million and gained nothing.  Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party did extraordinarily well when you think about how recently her party was implicated in seeking funding from the NRA to weaken gun laws and the defence offered was the senior staffers involved were on the turps.  But Palmer and Hanson both shook Labor voters loose and then directed them over to LNP.  

This underlines the need for National to have similar parties to its right.  And will incentivise plans to have Alfred Ngaro form a new party.

On the weekend the rhetoric was turned up with Ngaro saying that abortion was an unholy holocaust.

Jami-Lee Ross responded quickly:

This morning Bridges confirmed that discussions were reasonably well advanced, contrary to previous indications. 

On Friday Bridges’ office claimed comments about Ngaro were all rumour and speculation.  This reinforced something that he had said earlier. Then this morning he conceded that parts of the story were actually true.  He said this:

The truth is that the story I suppose had parts of it that were substantive and based on substance, some of it was wrong and so that is the reality of it.

Bridges then confirmed that Ngaro had been approached and Bridges had told him to keep Bridges in the loop.

Marvel at the video.

Wonder how a self confessed Christian politician can reconcile the use of fibbing with strongly held Christian beliefs, even if the fibbing is for political advantage.

And it makes you wonder where ACT will be. Because Bridges has also been reported as saying this:

I’m not interested in electorate deals – that’s certainly not something I have canvassed with Alfred or anyone else for that matter.”

But expect local politics to get uglier and more brutal at least in the short term. Although Jacinda is no Shorten and in my view has the ability and the empathy to counter this sort of approach.

78 comments on “Will the Christian Conservatives rise again? ”

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  1. Enough is Enough 1
    20 May 2019 at 11:17 am

    Jami-Lee Ross standing up for woman's rights is like Don Brash standing up for Maori rights – laughable…

    • Psycho Milt 1.1
      22 May 2019 at 12:36 am

      Pointing out that abortion actually isn't just like the Holocaust isn't "standing up for women's rights," it's "standing against anti-semitism," and the question is where were the rest of the National Party on this?

  2. Incognito 2
    20 May 2019 at 11:30 am

    So, Mr Bridges is saying “I’d do anything for power, but I won’t do that!”?

    • Sabine 2.1
      20 May 2019 at 12:38 pm

      no he is saying

      look at what i say

      not what i do.

    • Wensleydale 2.2
      20 May 2019 at 1:48 pm

      No, he's saying, "I'll do anything for power but I won't do that… until I feel it's necessary, after which I'll do exactly that and probably much worse. And then lie about it. Or blame it on a junior staffer. Who was emotional. Vote National!"

      • Dukeofurl 2.2.1
        21 May 2019 at 8:53 am

        Botany may not exist once they do the boundary changes in a few months…goodbye Botany hello Ormiston

  3. Dennis Frank 3
    20 May 2019 at 11:53 am

    Come again? "Will the Christian Conservatives rise again?" Rise again, but perhaps without coming? Hmm. Moral conservatives tend to be ambivalent re pornography (covertly pro, openly con) but I agree the possibilities will titillate them.

    It's true that the prospect of a Second Coming also looms large in their thinking. The passive approach of waiting has failed for two millennia so they could be mulling the potential of a proactive switch to a radical option: set the stage to make it happen, via magical thinking. Call a conference of all christians with political aspirations to discover who is really holier than thou. Brian Tamaki could explain why Destiny is the one true church, and all the others could be similarly exclusive…

    • greywarshark 3.1
      20 May 2019 at 12:50 pm

      In the 12th century according to one of Edith Pargeter's stories, the Brits believed in God's active intervention. A dispute might be fought out by the protagonists with swords and the winner would have received God's blessing and the loser the thumb's down. So a duel with BrIan and Alfred and whoever?

      The decision would be divine.

    • woodart 3.2
      20 May 2019 at 4:43 pm

      will the christian conservatives rise again. probably, because its usually a christian conservative that gets caught in the wrong bed, at the wrong time, with the wrong sex aid (or sex aide). the moral right are funny as phuck when one of their heroes gets caught with there pants down.

  4. mosa 4
    20 May 2019 at 12:04 pm

    Bridges " the truth is "

    He must stop using such a wicked turn of phrase.

    It does him no credit.

    • Brutus Iscariot 4.1
      20 May 2019 at 4:23 pm

      It's the equivalent of Key's "ektually".

    • OnceWasTim 4.2
      20 May 2019 at 4:38 pm

      say it long enough, and it is so – apparently – (going forwid)

      But ultimately, we're pivoting on our respective platforms so that we can position ourselves to take full advantage of the various conversations blah blah fucking blah rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb, next

      Sometimes I really do wonder how some of them sleep straight at night
      Has anyone ever seen and listened to pigs eating at a trough?
      It’s ekshully quite pleasurable by comparison

    • Incognito 4.3
      20 May 2019 at 9:05 pm

      The truth is Simon is a post-modernist. See, I learn things here on TS 😉

      • Psycho Milt 4.3.1
        22 May 2019 at 12:39 am

        Oh. it's much worse than that. A post-modernist would never claim that an assertion they were making was "The Truth." This is definitely your plain old grifter territory.

  5. Dukeofurl 5
    20 May 2019 at 12:25 pm

    There is only a push for a Christian Conservative party because there is a surprising amount of money that would flow that way. Rich older Christians seem to want nothing better than 'buy a candidate'

    The Exclusive brethren, The Seventh Day Adventists all have elders who want to play in the political sandpit. The Colin Craig saga showed he was being bankrolled by people such as the Days from Waikato, and national doesnt want that sort of money to be wasted on a fringe candidate when they can 'grow a new Christian party from their own rib'

    • woodart 5.1
      20 May 2019 at 4:49 pm

      rich older christians want to but a candidate because they think that might help them get a better seat on the plane to heaven. if they were "proper "christians they would know that buying a politian is like having a pet weasel, smelly, unreliable,and likely to bite its owner.

  6. observer 6
    20 May 2019 at 12:32 pm

    Those pundits prattling on about the prospects for a 'Christian' (not very) party always ignore one basic point.

    The things that get the ultra-conservatives worked up are treated as conscience issues for National (and Labour). There is no way any National leader is going to bind his/her MPs to a deal on abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia, etc.

    If you're an ambitious, youngish Nat (Kaye, Bishop, Willis) you don't want that baggage ruining your reputation, even if Simon does. He's only got one shot, so he's desperate … but his MPs aren't. They have a future.

    • Sacha 6.1
      20 May 2019 at 1:01 pm

      They only have to offer enough concessions to secure support for a term at a time. Plus punishing the poor is an enduring shared value.

      • observer 6.1.1
        20 May 2019 at 1:11 pm

        Disagree. That works for traditional pollies. You give Winston a few million for the horsies, you give Dunne a job, any job. That's 'a term at a time". Wheel, deal.

        But if it's a deal against conscience voters, and you're voting against what you believe, just for a couple of extra votes, you are screwed. And there is NO way National want to throw away swing voters for a generation.

    • mosa 6.2
      20 May 2019 at 4:47 pm

      youngish Nat (Kaye, Bishop, Willis) have a future ?

      Shit that is depressing !

      • woodart 6.2.1
        20 May 2019 at 4:53 pm

        there will be seats on company boards for the most servile ex nat m.p. s though jenny shipleys example will have them checking their personal liability insurance for incompetence……

  7. mauī 7
    20 May 2019 at 12:47 pm

    I watched Sky News cover the Aussie election and the right wing commentators (pretty much everyone there) were distraught at Tony Abbott's loss. Man of principle, stood up for what he believed in they said,…

    In comparison here we have Simon, another religious odd ball minus any respect and decency his peers would ever be able to spot.

  8. Hooch 8
    20 May 2019 at 12:48 pm

    From having no mates, National is now running the risk of too many mates. Which is it to be? new cons, blue-greens, Christian party? The danger is they all suck up 4% off of national and fail to get across the line while dropping nationals party vote further than it would have gone without them.

    • observer 8.1
      20 May 2019 at 12:59 pm

      Blue-Greens are finished before they started. The only (faint) hope for National is a party with a sitting electorate MP (seats aren't simply "gifted" the way some imagine, the likes of Peters, Dunne, Anderton had to be sitting MPs first).

      But as you say, there are too many Judean People's Fronts (Tamaki attacks Ngaro, Moffett attacks New Cons, etc). They can't organise and compromise, because they are all speaking for God, and God doesn't do deals.

    • Wensleydale 8.2
      20 May 2019 at 1:51 pm

      Bridges is determined to be all things to all people if it'll help him win.

      It won't though. He's fucked.

  9. marty mars 9
    20 May 2019 at 12:54 pm

    look at the previous leaders of this religious political mix

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Capill

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Craig

    Not very great at all. This will always be their (a Christian Party) problem I think – a not if, but when, problem.

    • Wensleydale 9.1
      20 May 2019 at 1:54 pm

      Capill used to make me roar with laughter. He was such a pompous arsehole. My old man used to sit on the couch of an evening watching him on the news and saying, "There's something off about that bloke. I don't know what it is… but he's not right."

      And it turns out he was a kiddy fiddler. Those who howl the loudest about the moral decline of society usually have the most to hide.

    • Sabine 9.2
      20 May 2019 at 7:32 pm

      wow the guy who hit Capill got two years, while Capill a prominent NZler was released after serving 6 years on probation for sexually abusing little girls.

      On 23 March 2005 Capill appeared in the Christchurch District Court charged with indecently assaulting a girl aged under 12. On leaving the court he was assaulted ("punched and left whimpering on the ground") by local sickness beneficiary Daniel McNally, a former boxer.[3] The media referred to Capill, who was then under a name-suppression order, as "a prominent New Zealander".[4] McNally, who had no previous connection to the case, received a two-year prison sentence for the assault.[5] On 1 April 2005 name suppression was lifted and Capill pleaded guilty to a charge of indecently assaulting an eight-year-old girl on four occasions.[6] These events took place between the years of 2001 and 2002, while Capill was leader of Christian Heritage. His activities were brought to an end by the Rev Wally Behan, vicar of St John's Anglican Church, Latimer Square, Christchurch, the church which the Capill family attended. Behan was acting on information received from some of the victims. Further charges of rape and indecent assault against girls aged under 12 (committed during the 1990s) followed.[7][8] As Capill had strongly condemned "sexual perversion" throughout his political career, the revelations had particular impact.[citation needed] Capill's conduct was swiftly condemned by Christian Heritage.[9]

      good grief. good fucking grief.

    • Psycho Milt 9.3
      22 May 2019 at 12:41 am

      Hey, come on now. To be fair, I personally believe Ngaro is well capable of living up to the legacy of Capill and Craig.

  10. Stuart Munro. 10
    20 May 2019 at 12:58 pm

    These are just a retread of the Hollow Men who funded National before they found China. Funny thing is they're much more of a minority here than in the US, maybe due to education, or maybe from a self-inflicted negative image. The trick for Labour is in not alienating genuine Christians, who tend to lean left, and vote.

    • observer 10.1
      20 May 2019 at 1:02 pm

      Yes, the word Christian should not be used as an insult. Or a synonym for far Right. It is not.

    • woodart 10.2
      20 May 2019 at 4:55 pm

      yes, real christians care about the less fortunate, not want to punish them, or rip them off.

    • AB 10.3
      20 May 2019 at 10:12 pm

      Quite – if Simon wants to cuddle up to selective bible literalists then he'll find that kiwis on the whole despise these clowns who are actually Christian heretics guilty of bibliolatry.

  11. Sacha 11
    20 May 2019 at 12:58 pm

    Am I right in gleaning this morning that Farrar's polling must have told the Nats their voters do not support a dodgy electorate deal?

    Yet they will want insurance that a vote for a christian tory ally is not wasted again.

    • Rae 11.1
      21 May 2019 at 9:53 am

      Not at all, because Bridges has only emphatically, on record, ruled out Botany, and maybe a little bit, Ellerslie, he hasn't ruled out any other electorate.

      • Sacha 11.1.1
        21 May 2019 at 9:59 am

        I meant in this case. Yes, he ruled it out after being vague on the matter last week. Wonder what happened in between ..

  12. greywarshark 12
    20 May 2019 at 2:03 pm

    How would USA Christian groups advance National Party interests here? Because they could, National could learn and probably earn a lot. Perhaps they would like to set up a large cult-centred evangelical farm, or teach Scientology in a bigger way than at present.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/389603/us-at-centre-of-national-s-foreign-policy-bridges : US at centre of National's foreign policy – Bridges

    Mr Bridges said National would prioritise New Zealand's relationship with the US, and "leverage the strong, security, economic and political ties between the two countries".

    The document said "no country has done more to promote democracy, freedom and security around the world than the United States", with both countries sacrificing together.

    He said National would participate in the upcoming debate about the future of New Zealand's presence in Iraq as part of a US-led mission.

    Mr Bridges also committed to "aggressively" pursuing a free trade deal (FTA) with the US.

    "We do have to win Washington's trust and attention … and have the political will to follow it through…".

    Edit:
    However, a guest panellist at the launch of the document, former trade negotiator Charles Finny, disagreed saying he did not believe the time was right to pursue an FTA as the deal for the agricultural sector would not be good enough.

    As for China, Mr Bridges said National would “further” the strong and dynamic relationship, and aim to meet the goal of doubling two-way trade to $60 billion by 2030.

    The document states Australia remains New Zealand’s most important and comprehensive relationship.

    Mr Bridges also signalled a move to allow New Zealand to act independently of the United Nations through a law change giving this country the ability to “autonomously” impose sanctions on countries where it believes it’s warranted, and “outside of the ‘held hostage’ United Nations sanctions regime”.

    Considering this – “As for China, Mr Bridges said National would “further” the strong and dynamic relationship, and aim to meet the goal of doubling two-way trade to $60 billion by 2030.” How does this fit into the knowledge that we must stop planning on growth of economies and think about slowing climate change to try and calm it, and concentrate on sustainability, and surely build resilience. We can’t keep exporting and importing as at present Simple Simon, if we want all to have a pie, man.

  13. Mark 13
    20 May 2019 at 2:03 pm

    <i>Yes, the word Christian should not be used as an insult. Or a synonym for far Right. It is not. </i>

    Agree here.

    However it is good to have the views of people like Ngaro out in the public square, even though I personally would not vote for such a person or party.

    If Ngaro plays his cards right he could well get a lot of votes from Pasifika, obviously, South Africans, Koreans (many of whom are Roman Catholic), Asian migrants, particularly Chinese who take to Christianity with gusto when they arrive here.

    A genuine socially conservative voice is missing from NZ politics, and would add value to political discourse in this country. With it, we may have been able to avoid idiocies like Bradford's anti-smacking law.

    • Sabine 13.1
      20 May 2019 at 2:41 pm

      well surely this country does not need an idiotic anti – smacking law, cause frankly we like to beat / abuse them properly, not just a little smacking, no only proper beatings will do. /s

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12017200

      A man who beat his baby son around his face and head then jammed a solid object in his mouth causing significant injuries has been sentenced to 9 months home detention.

      https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/baby-southland-flown-aucklands-starship-hospital-serious-injuries-police-investigating

      A five-week-old baby has been hospitalised with serious injuries, which Invercargill police believe are non-accidental.

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/106245150/childrens-minister-alarmed-at-numbers-of-proven-child-abuse from 2018

      More than 10,000 Kiwi children were recorded as being abused last year – something the Children's Commissioner has labelled New Zealand's "enduring shame".

      Figures released under the Official Information Act show that between its creation in April 2017 and March 2018, Oranga Tamariki recorded 13,966 substantive findings of abuse.

      Those numbers were made up of 11,519 individual children – with some young people having more than one incident of proven abuse against them.

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/68936884/ from 2015

      A child is admitted to a New Zealand hospital every second day with injuries arising from either assault, neglect or maltreatment, research says.

      Nearly half of them are aged under five.

      The figures, which are likely under reported, are contained in a 2012 report prepared for the Ministry of Health by the NZ Child and Youth Epidemiology Service.

      but yes, a 'proper' genuine, socially conservative voice is needed to do away with idiocies like Brandford's anti – smacking law.

    • Stuart Munro. 13.2
      20 May 2019 at 3:31 pm

      "it is good to have the views of people like Ngaro out in the public"

      Really? Like most of the Gnats the only thing he really believes in is being elected.

      As for the Koreans, they're by no means a pushover for insincere folk playing the religion card. Now, I haven't been following Ngaro closely, but is he actually active in Christian circles, or just a core around which Gnat strategists figure a malleable voter block will crudesce?

    • weston 13.3
      20 May 2019 at 6:51 pm

      Good grief !! Another so called christian still miffed cause he cant wack his kids anymore .Dunno weather youve ever noticed Mark but homo sapiens is THE most violent animal on the planet an we have been for some time ; do you really think we dont pass on the trait to our children ??Sue bradfords child discipline bill hasnt stopped humans being violent but at least it draws a thin line in the sand which sayes think about it mate the next time you raise your arm !!If you cant see the logic in creating a law like this then maybe you should just drop down onto all four again but then i suppose you dont believe in evolution either ?

  14. Mark 14
    20 May 2019 at 2:59 pm

    Yeah, and has Bradford's law made one iota of difference, reduced the child abuse rates in this country at all?????

    • Sabine 14.1
      20 May 2019 at 3:47 pm

      well as you said the law is idiotic and obviously the good people that beat their children and wifes to pulp need a good socially conservative party to not do so.

      I would have called the bill the 'anti criminal violent assholes (non gendered btw) beating their children to death law ' but then some call me outspoken and foul mouthed..

      but if you believe that a group of people who actually believe that women and children are property as defined by the bible will stop bashing their wifes and children when a man who has the same believes create a party that is supposedly socially conservative because the current lot of conservatives is not conservative enough, then i guess your issue is not with the abuse rates and the death rates, but rather with the fact that a women actually tried to do something no matter how small.

      • woodart 14.1.1
        20 May 2019 at 6:09 pm

        agree sabine. the idea of sue bradford(or any woman) introducing a law that affects the ownership and discipline of chattels is abhorrent to some ….as is the idea that a pregnant women has the right to do with her body as she wishes…..

    • Rae 14.2
      20 May 2019 at 9:22 pm

      Well it seems to have stopped instances of parents taking to kids with objects like horse whips, then being able to get away with it in a court of law as somehow they were able to convince that it was an act of "reasonable force", because that is all that law change was, removing the reasonable force clause as it was far too open to interpretation. It was the right thing to do

      • Chris T 14.2.1
        21 May 2019 at 10:42 am

        Care to post links to stats of the cases of parents taking to their kids with "horse whips" dropping since the law went through.

        What we do know is it hasn't stopped any scum parents beating and killing their kids.

        Apart from that it seems to have been a bit virtue signalling and that is about it

        • Rae 14.2.1.1
          22 May 2019 at 9:30 pm

          Here you go, it was the Otago case that had particularly stuck in my mind. It was and is not virtue signalling, the problem was that the definition of what was "reasonable force" was far, far too open to interpretation and it was only that which was removed from the law. Again, it was the right thing to do.

          Sorry for length of time to respond, been PC-less for a few days.

          https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10329981

  15. swordfish 15
    20 May 2019 at 3:21 pm

    .

    On the weekend the rhetoric was turned up with Ngaro saying that abortion was an unholy holocaust.

    His target constituency:

    .
    2014 NZES

    Question: "Abortion is always wrong ?"

    % Agreement

    (The two groups of voters way out in front)

    Conservative Party voters 49%

    Maori Party voters 37%

    The NZES regression model suggested Regular (Weekly) Church Attendance was by far the most important factor associated with staunch opposition to Abortion.

    Authoritarian attitudes along with Pasifika, Maori & Asian ethnicity were also correlated, albeit to a lesser degree.

    • swordfish 15.1
      20 May 2019 at 8:16 pm

      Of course, given that 2014 Con voters almost certainly swung heavily to the Nats in 2017 … Alf's core targets will presumably lie elsewhere:

      The 37% of Maori Party voters implacably opposed to Abortion

      The 25% of NZF voters implacably opposed to Abortion

      The 22% of Labour voters implacably opposed to Abortion

      Otherwise, of course, he's not growing that Right Bloc vote.

      As Sacha & Ad have implied, making inroads into that morally conservative Pasifika (& to a somewhat lesser extent, Maori) Labour vote would be living the dream for Alf & Simon.

      Hasn’t been successful in the past, mind (well, apart from Taito Phillip Field’s brief rebellion in Mangere)

      • swordfish 15.1.1
        20 May 2019 at 8:29 pm

        … which caused a fairly mild desertion among South Auckland Pasifika Labour voters.

        (& pretty much zero desertion in Porirua)

      • Sacha 15.1.2
        20 May 2019 at 8:32 pm

        The Nats would welcome any ally who takes votes from Winston.

        • swordfish 15.1.2.1
          20 May 2019 at 8:38 pm

          Yep … of course knocking them out of Parliament is the other key factor.

  16. Ad 16
    20 May 2019 at 3:35 pm

    Since Labour has done so little to to improve Auckland Pasifika incomes, they could well be in play.

    Labour should talk to Alf fast.

    • Sabine 16.1
      20 May 2019 at 6:18 pm

      well the minimum wage is currently 17.70$ so i don't quite see what you are on about.

      How much do you think the GST increase under national diminished the min wage at the time? Oh that is different?

      yeah, right Tui.

    • Sacha 16.2
      20 May 2019 at 7:02 pm

      Conservative Pasifika voters have been a constituency for several election cycles now. Be interesting to see if Ngaro can win their trust.

      • Dukeofurl 16.2.1
        21 May 2019 at 8:50 am

        Conservative Pasifika voters dont seem to exist as a constituency

        For Mangere 2017 results

        The Labour Candidate got 18810 votes

        The Labour Party got 19931 votes.

        Oh the Conservative Party got 73, back in 2014 when its was Colin Craig leading Conservative party it was 839, even less than Greens (1084) who dont usually do all that well in seats with these demographics.

        The reality seems that Pasifika voters prefer labour and not some mythical Christian/Conservative group , especially if its sort of hobby for rich european 'evangelicals'

    • Psycho Milt 16.3
      22 May 2019 at 12:47 am

      Labour should talk to Alf fast.

      What do you picture them saying to someone who thinks abortion is just like the Holocaust? Other than "What the fuck is wrong with you, man?" I mean.

  17. SHG 17
    20 May 2019 at 5:55 pm

    Labour NZ can't make Labor AU's biggest mistake – running the campaign from Victoria, with Victorian election tactics, when the electorates that would swing the election were in Queensland and NSW and Tasmania.

  18. stuff the politicians 18
    20 May 2019 at 7:46 pm

    National can throw whatever they like at the Col.

    However they will not get within a bulls roar of the Col come next election because of Jacinda. There is no one currently in parliament in any party that can match her, not one person.

    As for a religious based party, it will be like peeing into a Canterbury nor wester.

    • Puckish Rogue 18.1
      20 May 2019 at 8:27 pm

      "There is no one currently in parliament in any party that can match her, not one person."

      Hold my beer:

      https://www.facebook.com/judithcollinsmp/photos/a.561528207258270/561528227258268/?type=3&theater

      • Sabine 18.1.1
        20 May 2019 at 8:40 pm

        bwahahahahahahahahahah

        oh bless

      • stuff the politicians 18.1.2
        20 May 2019 at 8:46 pm

        Nice photo, but thirty years ago, really ??

        Come on, we all had our youth in our time.

        Any way, I wasn't talking about looks, I was talking about being a very capable leader and ability on the world stage.

        • Puckish Rogue 18.1.2.1
          20 May 2019 at 8:52 pm

          I don't blame you for focusing on her looks but its not Judes fault she was born with pleasingly symmetrical features

          • Sabine 18.1.2.1.1
            20 May 2019 at 9:16 pm

            oh now you are just searching for it

            lol

            lol

            lol

            • Mark 18.1.2.1.1.1
              21 May 2019 at 11:55 pm

              wow oh wow oh fucken wow!!!! I think I'm in luv!

              • Mark …
                21 May 2019 at 11:57 pm

                I've figured that the main reason why older woman lose their looks compared to their youth is the weight they put on, and the puffed up face

                If they did some intermittent fasting, or some low carb, their faces would hollow out a bit and they would resemble their youthful selves a lot more but with a bit more maturity and class.

                It could just be a kiwi woman problem though. When I was in Europe, at first any darked haired woman I viewed from behind I almost was fooled into thinking they were asian ……until I got wind of the fact that slim white woman are a common item, in Europe that is. There is something about the depressive attitude of kiwi woman which leads them to calorie overload, and a miserable snarky attitude….what a waste of potential!

                • Drowsy M. Kram …
                  22 May 2019 at 12:49 am

                  "Youth is wasted on the young."

                  The real tragedy of Collins is the tragedy of her wasted youth, her stunted mind, her drudging over her clods and pigs until she has become a clod and a pig herself—until the soul within her has smouldered into nothing but a dull temper that hurts herself and all around her.

                • Psycho Milt …
                  22 May 2019 at 12:57 am

                  If they did some intermittent fasting, or some low carb, their faces would hollow out a bit…

                  That's a recent fad. Look at any Hollywood actress appearing a costume drama set in earlier centuries and compare them to paintings of actual women of the time – the locals back then would have pitied the modern actresses as obviously suffering from some debilitating illness and presumably not having long to live.

        • Psycho Milt 18.1.2.2
          22 May 2019 at 12:51 am

          Nice photo, but thirty years ago, really ??

          Very flattering! Try forty.

          EDIT: D’oh! The date’s in the post: it was 42 years ago.

  19. Sabine 19
    20 May 2019 at 8:47 pm

    sadly we don't have someone like him start a new party.

    • WeTheBleeple 19.1
      20 May 2019 at 10:13 pm

      "There is a brand of religious conservatism that will praise the wolves while they devour the poor"

      There 's also a tendency of the poor to turn to spiritual solutions when problems become overwhelming. This is played upon by the conservative (rich so called) christians – 'gay marriage causes earthquakes' and other such wisdom for the masses.

      Climate change has many christians convinced it's end times therefore Jesus is about to turn up and save them. This makes them ineffective and even detrimental to efforts to fix our issues. Malleable and molded to fit conservative agendas. Suppressing themselves with the false narratives of the truly wicked – Convenience Christians, those hypocritical pious pampered pricks.

      • Sabine 19.1.1
        20 May 2019 at 10:22 pm

        And when you can't afford the doctor, praying is the next affordable medicine as it costs you nothing.

  20. Jackel 20
    20 May 2019 at 9:24 pm

    Are the Tories taking an American line here? Waiting for the rapture while voting for the guy with the best hair cut and a face that looks most like you know what.

  21. A 21
    21 May 2019 at 9:21 am

    I look forward to these Christian Conservatives stating that they want to see welfare reforms that support mothers or fathers who don't abort. Safe bet that doesn't happen.

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