I'm enjoying level one and going to cafes in a safe environment. contact tracing has not picked up any cases so its unlikely.
Other than at the border which some other team wants to fling open more, or not, depending on the time of the week.
Printable View
I'm enjoying level one and going to cafes in a safe environment. contact tracing has not picked up any cases so its unlikely.
Other than at the border which some other team wants to fling open more, or not, depending on the time of the week.
Gordon Campbell: On National's Great Leap Backwards
"Flash forward to 2020, and to Nicky Hager’s depiction of the Judith Collins that he documented in depth over the course of writing his book Dirty Politics:
The chapter recounts where she recommended to [blogger Cameron] Slater about some National Party internal politics: "Personally I would be out for total destruction... But then I've learned to give is better than to receive." She called it the "double" rule: "always reward with Double"; and said "If you can't be loved, then best to be feared."
"That is Muldoonism, in a nutshell. If you can’t destroy them, make them fear you. Welcome to the National Party, where - once again- an inflated sense of self-esteem is being marketed as strength."
Spare us - Gordon Campbell, the ex Green propaganda man!
Their gun policy is not finalised, but after speaking to David Seymour I am confident it will be developed to be sensible and safe.
https://www.act.org.nz/firearms
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.ne...&embedded=true
I listened to Judith Collins on Magic radio interview today and thought she came across well - not the hardened old bat of old. I will probably vote Act (list) and can see a sensible/ workable coalition with National. I am not impressed with Winston First or the Greens, so that lot are off my list; that takes Labour off my list also.
I always use my vote in the most effective way against the party I least want - Act will serve that purpose best.
I was never a Collins fan, but the way she came across today- I'm expecting a big jump in National's polling.
I think it's unlikely
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/...ectid=12348603
Economic incompetents lol.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12348616
Real reason why Nikki Kaye decided to call it a day - must be the worse possible experience to back Todd Muller who was not up to the job.
So good on her to quit politics and do other things. Well done, Nikki & all the best.
Saving 9 billion of what? printed money owned by our domestically owned reserve bank (unlike the nats who borrowed offshore).
Yep similar in most ways I think.
I feel for simon given what has been put through by the other team.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/ind...-to-stop-sales
Surprise! Who has been selling state houses despite promising the practice would be stopped pronto?
None other than Labour!
There will be some backpedaling on that promise, for sure, with fantastic reasons why it was Ok to break it.
Have to say though, it was always a daft promise, and just indicated that Labour was playing to the gallery without choosing to understand the well publicised reasons behind state house decisions.
Extraordinary, 18 National MP's have quit this last term & we still haven't even got to the end of it.
No matter which way Brownlee tries to spin it, plainly obvious its not a happy environment.
where are their policies though?
You don't want to convey the message that Labour politicians are professionals and National politicians are just amateurs, do you?
I think I remember quite capable politicians on both sides ... and yes, there have been duds on both sides as well. Just remember this disaster on two legs whom National made MP for Southland. Forgot his name already, though I think there was some reference to walking away in it, wasn't it?
I guess, he was probably just working on his bachelor in dirty politics and he failed miserably - and this was not due to lack of being mean ...
We do agree however - the behavior of this National MP was absolutely unacceptable and both highly unprofessional as well as plain dumb, as was the behavior of the previous National Party president (Michelle Boag).
Ah well, maybe that is what you want to convey - better avoid the unprofessional politicians coming from National ....
Cheers for letting us know, I will keep this in mind.
It's pointless meeting every observation of the National Party with rabid criticism of Labour and half baked wild assertions.
The loss of 18 National MP's in one term is hardly something to ignore, & many will interpret that as indicating the Party is in a lot of distress, at the moment.
Add to that the infighting, now on their 4th leader in this single term, & loss of senior National party Kuia Michelle Boag in disgrace, & to any neutral observer, they hardly look like a party capable of running the country, except to their most ardent fan base.
Just a couple of examples, Paul Goldsmith, at Nbr 4 & Finance spokesperson, previous experience to becoming an MP worked as a speechwriter for Phil Goff & John Banks, & wrote a history book.
Or at Nbr 8, Chris Bishop, previous experience worked behind the scenes in Parliament as a researcher/adviser for National & a stint as a tobacco lobbyist ( sort of thing you might prefer to delete from your CV).
Obviously they're no different to some Labour politicians.
3 leaders in three months. I think we know who is more likely to go. Though queen judy may have a cache of info to use on other hopefuls to the throne.
My guess is she will last after the election whatever the outcome is.
The real reason why Nikki Kaye resigned according to Nikki Kaye and not Heather du Plessis-Allan.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-...ement-decision
Ms Kaye said since she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016 "there's always been a calculation of the greatest amount of contribution I can make versus being able to live and have a life".
"I don't look at life like I've got 40 years, I look very much on a shorter time frame. For me it made sense if the party and the country needed me to step up in a leadership role but then with the events that occurred I had to reassess that.
"It's not fair to people of Auckland Central or the party to have someone who is not 100 per cent in."
"You need to know when your time is up and in my view, my time is up."
Asked if it was an emotional decision, Ms Kaye said "of course... but it is absolutely the right thing".
18-20 MPs have made similar decisions so it can't all be about the family.
Anne Tolley, Paula and many of them women. :(
Already gone
- Sir Bill English
- Steven Joyce
- Jonathan Coleman
- Jami-Lee Ross
- Christopher Finlayson
- Tutehounuku (Nuk) Korako
Leaving at the election
- Alastair Scott
- Nathan Guy
- Maggie Barry
- Sarah Dowie
- Nicky Wagner
- David Carter
- Anne Tolley
- Paula Bennett
- Hamish Walker
- Jian Yang
- Nikki Kaye
- Amy Adams
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/polit...-election.html
Divisiveness rather than diversity in the National Party in my opinion. There is not unity. Different leaders = different values. Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye were more liberal and more in tune with the average New Zealander, while Judith Collins and Gerry Brownlee (aka Gerry and the Placeholders) are back to the old conservative values that the established members want. Unfortunately when you are ousted from a leadership position you are demoted and put in your place rather than retaining a senior position e.g. Paula Bennett.
Managing diversity is an on-going process that unleashes the various talents and capabilities which a diverse population bring to an organization, so as to create a wholesome, inclusive environment, that is “safe for differences,” enables people to “reject rejection,” celebrates diversity, and maximizes the full potential of all, in a cultural context where everyone benefits.
Gerry and nick smith probably know where the skeletons are. They would need to be offered a board position somewhere
Dame Jenny was removed from genesis recently and is now out there cheerleading for collins. she needs money lol
For the list of those already gone they were mainly senior ministers fom the previous administration. This is very common, same thing happened after the 9 year stint of Helen Clark.
The list of those leaving at the election also has people that have been in Parliament a long time and done their dash, such as Anne Tolley, David Carter, Nathan Guy and Nicky Wagner.
In my view Paula, Amy and Nikki have all left because of the fallout from leadership changes and all 3 are a great loss to National. The rest of them haven't really achieved anything and know their futures as MPs are bleak so good riddance and time to get fresh faces to replace them.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-in...g-expectations
All starts with good leadership and that’s what National has now with Collins.
Let the battle begin.
Having in the past voted both National & Labour & as a swinging voter, I'm curious why you think its been disastrous under Labour & wasn't under National.
Knowing a fair cross section of people in all socio eco groups, everyone seems to be doing reasonably well. Those whose jobs are gone, like pilots & airline staff seem to have accepted the reality of the world wide Pandemic & quickly adjusted into finding new careers even if it's a step down. The sharemarket is booming, teachers & nurses are better paid & its looking a more realistic career after years of shortages, the Ski fields are crowded with visitors, the rugby's miles better, the Malls are busy, online retail is surging, etc. Obviously tourism sector badly affected but that's the new reality for many places in the world.
At the end of National's term there were so many problems esp in Health, Education & Housing. It was generally recognised (even by Bill English) that National had underfunded & let too many things deteriorate to the point of broken, & had left their large pre election spending program to fix them too late.
The economy was largely based on massive immigration, the exploitation of cheap foreign workers (esp in tourism & agriculture sector) & the exploitation of International students (worthless courses & an army of people to fill cramped sub standard rental apartments which few NZ'ers would put up with).
Auckland was broken, with rapid massive immigration without the supporting infrastructure (which is why its ironical to hear National now claiming they are the party of infrastructure). Roads & motorways jammed, huge traffic congestion , school rolls bursting at the seams without the classrooms to provide for all the new students, shocking hospital waiting lists for cancer & other serious health problems, estimated Auckland was short of 70,000 homes for the increased population, homeless people sleeping & defecating in the doorways of our main retail stores, chronic teacher & nurses shortages due to low pay & unrealistic work loads, huge & rapidly growing income inequality, outrageous 3rd world diseases like rheumatic fever crippling young children, hospital & school buildings leaking, increasing gambling addiction with rapid proliferation of pokie machines & alcohol outlets in vulnerable communities, the farcically appalling SkyCity deal, the blind eye to the free buses & McDoanld's vouchers SkyCity was using to entice vulnerable people from South Auckland suburbs to SkyCity & gamble on the pokie machines, the debacle over meth contamination of houses & a whole industry built on unessesarily decontaminating perfectly ok houses with the tragic consequences for many that caused, Christchurch Rebuild mess (Brownlee detested by many in CHC) , humiliating Transmission Gully Project etc etc, I could go on & on.
So it wasn't all perfect under National by any means & while some of those issues were complex & difficult, some were inexcusably simple to fix.
And this isn't intended as a criticism of National but just curious why you express such strong views that National was so great but Labour's been a disaster. (& no need to mention Kiwibuild again, which agreed has been unable to solve the existing housing problem.)
You've misread my post. I said the gender quotas for Labour have been disastrous (Claire Curran a good example) and to my knowledge, National has never had them. So that answers the first line in your post and the rest is not relevant to my post that you've quoted.
And for the record, I agree National underfunded some critical infrastructure like hospital and school buildings but I think they were on the right track to sell some of the state housing (and Labour has continued) that largely was in the wrong areas, wrong type of housing and was poorly maintained. A lot of it was sold to organisations that are much better to provide social housing than central Government is.
Talk to any developer and builder involved in building and supplying state homes to Kainga Ora (new name for Housing NZ to cover up Kiwibuild disaster) and they will tell you that it is a bottomless pit which they are extremely happy whenever Labour comes into power - BONANZA time.
They are building houses for third generation state tenants as well as for extended families in the dozens.
Breeding beneficiaries - Labour’s way of building up its voters’ base using taxpayers’ funds under the pretence of ‘be kind’.
Labour has never understood why it is better to teach a man to fish vs giving a man a fish - party of mostly state beneficiaries themselves who have never created jobs in their lives.
Must say “Digger ready” sounds better than “shovel ready” ....and more ambitious. ..if they get a chance to start the diggers up
Peters reackons there is a dirty campaign coming up..
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/polit...on-peters.html
Good call - remember reading post the 2017 election that a columnist explained to the silly Nats who don't seem to understand MMP after complaining that the Nats won the 2017 election (you still hear it too) about those mathematical aids we used in the primers - Cuisenaire rods. You get the red, green and black rods and join them together and they are longer that the blue rod - pretty simple. And the Nats conveniently fail to recall that Labour got more votes in the 1981 and 1978 elections...
Class A garbage as per usual from those who back Comrade Cindy & her team of incompetents & non-performers.
https://www.electionresults.govt.nz/...nresults_2017/
Labour (36.9%) + Greens (6.3%) = 43.2%
National (44.4%) + ACT (0.5%) = 44.9% + TOP + Maori Party + etc = 49.6%
Pathetic, really trying to rewrite history to suit the narrative.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12349054
Good stuff - Collins rules out working with Winston & NZF.
Exactly what should have been done last election just as John Key did.
Let those who support NZF find themselves in the wilderness. :t_up:
Does a leopard change her spots? This is the last thing this country needs and a death knell for National as we know it.
"While Collins had been exonerated of an accusation not in Dirty Politics, but which led to Prime Minister John Key removing her from Cabinet - namely, that she was involved in a smear campaign against the Serious Fraud Office boss Adam Feeley - Hager argued the chapter dedicated to Collins still stood."
“It shows a pettiness and meanness, as she sent snippets of gossip and dirt to Cameron Slater and helped him to attack people on his blog - including details of a public servant who was then strongly attacked on Slater's blog, including receiving death threats,” he said.
Comment Can Collins cause political pain? National’s new leader is, for better and for worse, a known quantity to Kiwi voters. Jul 15 2020
Comrade Cindy 🐒 obviously does as she is happy to go to bed* & stay in bed with the conniving confirmed lying dirty trickster Winston ‘Owen Glenn’ Peters.🤮
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/peters-donation-allegations-creates-another-political-toothache-for-ardern
* electorally
I think everything is fair in MMP. a win is a win.
Do you think its fair trump got in with 46% or Boris with 40?
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/winston-p...acing-minister
How do you think Comrade Cindy can continue to stay in bed with Winston Peters after such revelations?
Owen Glenn must be chuckling something hysterical!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...=recommendedv1
Judith and her mate Slater smearing our health agency professionals for a political reason.
To be clear it is the National caucus that have ruled out working with NZF, well before Collins was leader, and that position still stands.
Same outcome though, just beggars belief that any minor party can end up ‘choosing‘ who will form the Government. MMP is broken.
NZ first voters and MPs decide who to go with as it should be.
Mr Peters reckons he is receiving leaked National information. Maybe, maybe not. Hard to know with him and without a confession or a sting who would know. It does however seem that there may be National caucus leaks to one or more journalists.
That is a real concern and needs to be sorted pdq. I expect the investigation is well underway, or perhaps resolved. We may never be told, though the beltway itself is a sieve....
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/polit...er-leader.html
She may be in there forever lol. interestingly an electoral wipeout may actually be good for her as dissenters are voted out and she can rebuild.
I think the worst aspect showed itself in the last election. That is the minor party waffling on for ages then announcing who he has decided will form the govt. Surely once parties to the coalition have agreed they should advise the Gov. General who should then make the formal announcement. Not Winston Peters or any other 5% party. That was an appalling display of arrogance - quite undignified.
It is safe to say neither those MPs nor Collins would ever have thought Collins would end up being the "safe pair of hands".
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?objectid=12348272&&ref=topbox
There will be shifts of emphasis – the law and order rhetoric will ramp up again, and the farmers will be happy Collins will not be putting up with any of that "nonsense" on the left.
By and large, leaders can be sorted by the rhetorical weapons they use for political surgery.
Ardern uses a scalpel, a nuanced and tidy nipping and tucking, wielded with a smile.
Bridges used his bare fists, thudding away to some effect until Covid-19 came along, but bruising his own knuckles in the process.
Collins will be oiling up the chainsaw as we speak.
where are her environmental policies? does removing the rma mean we can build a carpark through milford sounds..
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...h-fighting-for
Collins hasn’t just written off young middle-class lefties. She seems broadly uninterested in under-30-somethings as a whole.
Normally, leaders at least pretend that youth voters are important, even if only to publicly lament how few of us actually vote. But Crusher isn’t trying to style herself as a good option for younger voters; she really just seems to be gunning for the support of older voters who are annoyed or confused (or both) by the changing times.
Take her stance on refusing to engage on issues of diversity. One of the most defining traits of Millennials is a willingness to engage more on the topic of race. Among the young Left and the young Right (and even the centre) we all talk about issues like racism, diversity and systemic racial injustice. We may disagree on how to tackle these issues, but both sides acknowledge that they’re topical, relevant and worthy of debate.
I read the occasional piece from Verity Johnson...just to keep tabs on where the woke are currently concentrating their efforts.
I suspect Collins will pride herself in being anti-woke....and as long as it is done in moderation, that is fine by me. What worries me internationally, is that it won't be done in moderation. Cultural Marxism's long march through the institutions is reaching its zenith and the Conservative fight back is starting. Scott Morrison partially tapped into this with his "Silent Australians".
Well done Left supporters:
As we've seen on this thread they are so desperate they are going back to some old Nicki Hager stuff and now attacking National MPs billboards and caravans.
Shameful.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=12349103
https://www.facebook.com/honnicksmit...4048395419225/
Talk about dirty politics
From my friends’ three under 30s children (Two in NZ & one in Oz) who voted Labour last election :
‘We hated John Key’s guts for locking us out of the property market. So we voted Labour with their Kiwibuild, capital gains tax and reduced immigration policies. Nothing has changed and things have got worse.’
They have not said who they are going to vote for so it’s really up to the parties to convince voters like them who can offer the solution.
Kiwibuild - less than 400 out of 16,000 promised. - less than 5%! This is the monumental scale of this government’s failure to deliver.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political...for-quarantine
Sensible policy - charge returnees as NSW is already.
Anyone who intends to return to NZ better do so by September 2020.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12349183
And on cue, the party which was hoping to sail through the election without any policies has agreed to implement the policy!
Comrade Cindy 🐒 spreading her woke pixie dust to head off Crusher Collins? 🚜
Charging for managed isolation has been on Labour’s agenda since April, but as Megan Woods says "National's stated commitment to a charging regime is a good sign there will be widespread parliamentary support for such a move.”
Earlier today it was revealed that anyone who arrived in New Zealand from October 3 would be charged a $3000 fee per adult for their managed isolation if National wins the election. Interesting to see National and Labour have similar thinking.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12349183
It is a change of policy because National Party leader Todd Muller was against the Government charging Kiwi residents or citizens for the cost of Covid-19 quarantine or self-isolation.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...t-appears-keen
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...arantine-costs
Labour and National both want to reform the RMA, more similar thinking.
In July last year the Government launched a comprehensive overhaul of the Resource Management Act (RMA) to cut complexity and costs and better enable urban development, while also improving protection of the environment.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/comprehensive-overhaul-rma
The final report to the Minister is now on track to be delivered in late June. It was originally scheduled to be released at the end of May but due to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic response, it has been slightly delayed.
https://www.mfe.govt.nz/rmreview
Judith Collins promises to abolish RMA. The RMA fast-track legislation passed in response to Covid-19 provides a useful interim framework, but is too limited, she said.
If elected National will make far more extensive use of the Labour’s fast-track act.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12348810
The biggest issue I've run into with respect to the RMA is that it is being used as a tool to bludgeon another party. For example, one supermarket lodged an objection under the RMA against a competitor attempting to establish an operation near them. Ultimately they lost the case in the EC, however by this time several years and hundreds of thousands of dollars had been spent in legal costs.
A personal example is one neighbour to a development lodging an official objection while simultaneously agreeing to remove the objection if $75K was paid to them for loss of value to their property, not officially quantified. Six others, immediately located next door in more effected positions, did not object.
Those are some of issues that need to be addressed in the RMA from my perspective.
We are a lightly regulated country compared to somewhere like Australia, uk, council rules in most areas. Im generally happy with how things are myself and these issues can be managed easily enough.
National don't want to, only labour may be able to be trusted on that. Since they dont need to motivate themselves with policies like this.
Another National MP quitting after an 'unfortunate incident' last Wednesday.
That's 19 MP's they've lost so far this term and there's still 2 months to go.
As said in an editorial, after the last election they promised to be the opposition from hell. But instead they've been the opposition in hell.
So many issues relating to health problems, they need to take more care of their MP's.
Can't keep loosing them at this rate.
Hard luck Winston.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/cri...n-legal-action
He of all politicians should have learnt not to smack his gums about, accusing National MPs, without evidence or proof.
He's eligible for appeal so its somewhat meaningless so far. we'll know the result of that in a couple of years..
MPs sending out dick pics now, great stuff guys.
Dealt with, gone and good riddance.
Compare and contrast with Comrade Cindy’s handling of the summer camp’s sex scandal.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/polit...t-scandal.html
After watching One News, the title of this thread could not be more apt!
Disaster after disaster, trying to hold themselves together, and that was last week.
New week & new disaster!