Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: And meanwhile ...

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  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    week old snapper.

    I keep thinking weak old snapper, and I am back with Tony Ryall and his sidekick , that woman, whose name I can't mention as I mentioned earlier. I'm stuck between dogs and fish now ;(

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Eddie Clark,

    You're right, Graeme, that Goff is way more of an old face that Ryall et al.

    This doesn't change the fact that, of course, Key's whole premise is bollocks. You pick your best leadership candidate, not a fresh face for the sake of it. If you pick a new and exciting candidate who actually has no substance and no political nous you might manage to lose an unloseable election... anyone remember 2005?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 273 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    I keep thinking weak old snapper, and I am back with Tony Ryall and his sidekick , that woman, whose name I can't mention as I mentioned earlier. I'm stuck between dogs and fish now ;(

    Do you mean the venerable Anne Tolley, Sofie? She who looks touted to be the next Minister of Education?

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Graeme Edgeler,

    If you pick a new and exciting candidate who actually has no substance and no political nous you might manage to lose an unloseable election... anyone remember 2005?

    Labour didn't pick a new and exciting candidate in 2005.

    After the 2002 election - at which National had fallen to less than 21% of the vote - the only party that could possibly have been fighting an unloseable election in 2005 was Labour. How can a party be expected to lose an election merely three years after it secured almost twice the votes of it opponent?

    Wellington, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 3215 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Can't help but feel Labour will steal the thunder to night on the news which will probably piss a few Nats off which kinda puts a new light on Keys "renewal" comment. Is the honeymoon over already? Of course I could be wrong, ahem.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Indeed - anyone who's thinking of putting Tony Ryall, the Smiths Lockwood and Nick, Murray McCully and Maurice Williamson on his front bench can't be too snippy about "renewal"

    With the corollary that Labour might want to STFU with the taunts about the old faces of the 90's. And just a thought -- I don't recall anyone on the Labour benches being particularly complimentary about Key becoming leader of the Opposition, so a little less contrived outrage from all quarters might be in order.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Do you mean the venerable Anne Tolley, Sofie? She who looks touted to be the next Minister of Education?

    pick a number, any number but no it's pitbull Collins. (Sorry to all pitbulls) Shit ,it partially passed my keyboard, I feel sick now, will you excuse me for a moment... :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Prime leads with Labour. :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Gareth Ward,

    Goff is the right choice to lead an Opposition - the next 18months will tell us if he's the right choice to lead a next Government

    I will say I'm a fan of what I've seen of the man...

    Auckland, NZ • Since Mar 2007 • 1727 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    After the 2002 election - at which National had fallen to less than 21% of the vote - the only party that could possibly have been fighting an unloseable election in 2005 was Labour.

    Only if you ignore the opening of the Orewa vein in early 2004 ... Labour came from behind to win when you consider that.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I will say I'm a fan of what I've seen of the man...

    ...and I live in Mt Roskill :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Key might not be nervous, he should be.

    Well, I wouldn't be too nervous about the Annette King whose previously safe pair of hands in the shit portfolio of death (Death) were considerably less sure in Police - to my surprise. And sorry, Goff was probably as good as it gets in Labour at the moment, but he should expect some reminders of what he did in the Fourth Labour Government, especially during his tenure as Minister of Education.

    Perhaps the Rogernome Severus Snape really has come over to the side of good, but he shouldn't be too surprised if people want to remind the country of his record as a Death Eater.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Oh, and credit where it's due: Labour was very smart to make sure the succession was clean, fast and any blood-letting went on behind a closed caucus room door.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    No spring chickens, I'm sure (though is 43 that old?), but there surely has to be a difference between those who first saw Parliamentary action under Bolger (Nick Smith, Tony Ryall), and those who first saw it under Muldoon (Goff).

    Graeme, to be honest I think comparing Smith and Ryall with Goff is leading with your chin. Neither Smith nor Ryall have proven records in the Ministry, nor frankly the Opposition. I think both will struggle in their new portfolios; Ryall having made some quite ridiculous promises and set some tricky precedents.

    And sorry, Goff was probably as good as it gets in Labour at the moment, but he should expect some reminders of what he did in the Fourth Labour Government, especially during his tenure as Minister of Education.

    And although I'm positive the party has moved on, it'll be amusing to both men that Andrew Little will soon be the president.

    Incidentally, Goff's interview with Wilson was a very good start.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    blood-letting went on behind a closed caucus room door.

    Perhaps this is the National way Craig, but I doubt Labour would even consider such behaviour ;)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    Rachel Prosser:

    . . . in the psychology books, "Families and How to Survive them" and "Life and How to Survive It" written by John Cleese and Robin Skinner, there's something explaining why people at the political extremes are prone to projecting their fears on others, and to splintering into ever greater fragments, each one purer in ideology than the last.
    One question: can someone explain to me what exactly Judith Tizard did or didn't do that causes so many people to deride her so much?
    Is she just a convenient target? Or did someone (e.g. John Banks) mount a sustained campaign against her reputation? There's shades of the Hilary hating there, and I can't quite work out what she did to deserve to be painted as less competent than George W Bush.

    As long as you're employing your psychological skills to delve beyond the obvious, it might be interesting to turn your attention to the shades and nuances underlying the downfall of David Benson-Pope. For reasons I've never been able to fathom he seemed to provoke a real Freudian's picnic of responses from the politically prurient.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Jan Farr,

    I've never found Judith to be arrogant myself.

    Woman arrogant, Man masterful.

    Carterton • Since Apr 2008 • 395 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Williams,

    Perhaps this is the National way Craig, but I doubt Labour would even consider such behaviour ;)

    I'd like to think Labour will not ever repeat the mistakes of the mid-90s. The conflagration of the Lange/Palmer/Moore leadership might've burned a little too long, but it burned completely out. I see Goff's election to the leadership as confirmation of this. If Labour's factions were still in charge, then the apparently stronger left faction would have blocked Goff. That they didn't says two things; firstly they can see beyond increasingly irrelevant social arrangements and secondly that Goff is the best person for the job.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report Reply

  • Ian MacKay,

    Paul:"that they didn't says two things; firstly they can see beyond increasingly irrelevant social arrangements and secondly that Goff is the best person for the job."

    Thirdly that the Labour discipline practised now for years, still stands. Thanks Helen.

    Bleheim • Since Nov 2006 • 498 posts Report Reply

  • Blake Monkley,

    That they didn't says two things; firstly they can see beyond increasingly irrelevant social arrangements and secondly that Goff is the best person for the job.

    Indeed, I also like the idea that Act will be even more isolated now, Key will be wary of Goff coming across as sensible to the centrist voters who went with the right this time.

    Auckland • Since Jul 2008 • 215 posts Report Reply

  • Eleanor,

    One question: can someone explain to me what exactly Judith Tizard ddi or didn't do that causes so many people to deride her so much?

    Another question: can someone explain to me what exactly Annette King did or didn't do that causes so many people to unquestioningly accept and support her so much?

    wellington • Since May 2007 • 81 posts Report Reply

  • Jan Farr,

    Another question: can someone explain to me what exactly Annette King did or didn't do that causes so many people to unquestioningly accept and support her so much?

    Would it not be possible for you to do your own homework on that one Eleanor? She hasn't exactly been in hiding for the past nine years.

    Carterton • Since Apr 2008 • 395 posts Report Reply

  • simon g,

    Clearly, Goff is the best person for the job. Based on, you know, ability - as opposed to giving the journos a new toy. Spare me the fatuous Fresh Face.

    The NatLab party today took a bold step into the future by choosing Donny Donut as their new leader. Donut says he brings new energy and ideas to the job, and already has a Facebook page. When asked what his new ideas were, he said "To bring new energy and ideas to the job".

    He has run his own business (a media sports communication consultancy), kept his own hair, and lists Jon Stewart and Harry Potter as his political heroes, as well as "that old black dude who was locked up for ages in South Africa". When asked which side he would have supported in World War Two, he said that he did not want to relitigate the past, but he had seen something by Steven Spielberg on DVD, and the uniforms looked cool. He added that Eye-Dee-OLLA-Jee was a hip-hop artist who could inspire "tomorrow's teens, today."

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • Shep Cheyenne,

    Is Goff our Gordon Brown?

    The line "There are no factions in Labour" is more than a little rich. What of the Union vote?
    The totality of front was that of TINA.

    And so I suppose that's why I left (or didn't vote for them for the first time ever, being too cheap for party dues ).

    Since Oct 2007 • 927 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Neither Smith nor Ryall have proven records in the Ministry, nor frankly the Opposition. I think both will struggle in their new portfolios

    Taking the partisan blinkers off for a moment, I know a few civil libertarians who doesn't give Goff particularly high marks when he starts courting Laura Norder. So he might be our very own Gordon Brown after all...

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

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