Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The sole party of government

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  • izogi, in reply to Farmer Green,

    I get the idea of learning from how an opposition did well, but…

    Did anyone notice that National was NOT promising tax cuts?

    …did National promise anything besides some kind of non-specific thing about obviously being brilliant economic managers and taking the country in the "right" direction?

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 1142 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to BenWilson,

    No Ben, but I did save his life one day when he was rolling backwards down a a bloody near vertical slope on a three-wheeler. I was lower down, so I rammed him from below and brought him to a stop.
    And you know what.. he was pissed about the grease that had ruined his suit trousers.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison,

    All you talk about is keeping an economic status quo, a status quo which doesn't hold water for 52% of the population.

    There was no mandate for our current economic direction. There was a New Zealand MMP state election and National have won the governance rights for three years. Lots of problems to solve and 52% of the voting population yesterday wanted someone else to do it. So there's debate. No one belongs here.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov, in reply to Amanda Wreckonwith,

    OK, no worries, I think it's about then that I began to wonder exactly what the object was, I'll keep asking around.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Amanda Wreckonwith, in reply to Pete,

    Farmer, have you escaped from Kiwiblog by any chance?

    His style is very similar to a troll from the Hot Topic climate change blog.
    Somebody get a hockey stick and we can have at him...

    Since Sep 2012 • 171 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Katharine Moody,

    That doesn't sound like the Tariana Turia that I know.
    Too much testosterone in the new leadership?

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • izogi, in reply to Farmer Green,

    Someone I never heard of until he became a transitory media idol.
    the whole episode was irrelevant

    I've yet to meat anyone who habitually took any direct notice of Cameron Slater, but if you've had any exposure to media in NZ, chances are you've been very subject to the consequences of his involvement.

    Wellington • Since Jan 2007 • 1142 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie, in reply to Farmer Green,

    I did save his life one day

    That’s even better than the one about the guy who pulled Corporal Muldoon out of a wadi in the North African desert, using a grappling iron that stuck in his left cheek.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Katharine Moody, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    The opposition has a lot of ammo, if aimed correctly, who knows.

    Indeed. And they also have the three Offices of Parliament and the privileges committee. WP is the most constitutionally informed. He needs to be given the reigns to lead this for the whole of the opposition.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,

    I’m also keen to see all of these stats, Lucy. David Hood already gave this link on the Time To Vote thread which has some figures that might help you. It’s got the eligible voter stats. You’re actually a little under on the estimated eligible population, which is 3,391,100. I’d expect that when linearly extrapolating an exponential model.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to izogi,

    I’ve yet to meat anyone who habitually took any direct notice of Cameron Slater, but if you’ve had any exposure to media in NZ, chances are you’ve been very subject to the consequences of his involvement.

    And that includes teachers and principals who had the temerity to oppose National Standards. What David Slack said about the purpose of the whole Dirty Politics thing being to silence people was apposite. You might never have heard of Slater, but what you saw and heard in the media was often a consequence of what he did on National’s behalf.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov, in reply to Farmer Green,

    jack and mark , if you are trying to tell me that politics are dirtier today than they have ever been, then I’ll just say that it has never been so easy to play that game. I don’t believe that anything has changed except for the means to play in the dirt.

    Not at all, just giving you the rough gist of the book as it appeared to have passed you by there in Rangitkei. I agree, the song remains the same.

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

  • Katharine Moody, in reply to Alfie,

    his brand has attracted too much vitriol from the powers-that-be to make that happen.

    No, the only powers-that-be that matter are the judiciary. And the judiciary is no fan of this government (and not just on the Dotcom issues). Read, for example, the judgement associated with the challenge associated with denying prisoners the right to a vote.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to Alfie,

    If we can't see him we can't start casting the movie.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Farmer Green,

    You were his next door neighbor?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to izogi,

    I think that you're right. If you asked me what National was seeking a mandate to do, I wouldn't be sure.
    Maybe shift the tax brackets . . MAYBE.
    Reform the RMA . . . some vague noises in that direction.
    Can't think of anything else.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to BenWilson,

    No . From recall , it was something to do with a farmer meeting about the sales tax on three-wheelers , which were a new tool. It might have been during the Muldoon era Ben.
    I've always wondered whether I should have just let him go :-)

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Jack Harrison, in reply to mark taslov,

    There's a choice bit in the book when they stop slandering the opposition and plot to slander themselves. It's a funny old book.

    wellington • Since Aug 2014 • 296 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Joe Wylie,

    Except that Betham never got to do half the damage that Muldoon did.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Katharine Moody, in reply to Farmer Green,

    That doesn’t sound like the Tariana Turia that I know. Too much testosterone in the new leadership?

    Willie Jackson discussed in on Marae this morning.

    Wellington • Since Sep 2014 • 798 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Jack Harrison,

    All you talk about is keeping an economic status quo,

    Was that addressed to me Jack?
    If so, I’ll say that the status quo is not an option in my book. NZ was lucky that the Chinese suddenly wanted a whole lot of milk powder. That’s all over now.
    We are back where we started ; deep in debt as nation, and running deficits.
    If it was your business doing that , what would you do?

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    A lot of analysis seems to me to be about spherical cows. It's an old joke: a theoretical physicist loses his job at a university and gets a job on a dairy farm. Missing the common room discussions, he decides to hold a seminar in the milk shed and puts up a whiteboard. On it he draws a circle and begins, "Consider the qualities of a spherical cow..."

    Is it worthwhile debating policies from the viewpoint of the theoretical physicist as if they were perfect objects in a frictionless vacuum? Is it worthwhile to assume that everyone else thinks the same way?

    The public may have been wrong, but don't call them stupid or deluded. They on the whole may have voted intuitively and I think that a major factor was the perception of competence.

    "Vote for me, I'll make the sun shine every day," says candidate X. What kind of fool wouldn't vote for candidate X? The kind of fool who asks "How?"

    For the last six years Labour was was a fratricidal, jealous, self-absorbed rabble of prima donnas that was simply not fit to govern - and it was no secret, because they assiduously leaked it to every journalist who would listen... and so they listened, and the electorate listened.

    Nice picture of a cow though, very creative.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Farmer Green, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Russell , I assume that almost EVERYTHING that I hear or read in the MSM is a consequence of what someone is doing on someone else's behalf. There are very few , if any honest brokers ; it is all just entertainment.

    Lower North Island • Since Nov 2012 • 778 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Andre,

    A fundamental problem seems to be the fractured left-wing progressive vote. A grand alliance of the parties now with three years to work out how it could achieve the main changes in direction needed would seem the best chance of winning some of those swinging seats next time. It would involve some mainstreaming but I doubt Cunliffe, Harawira, Turei et al can argue too much on which of the current problems are the most pressing generically. If they formulated shared policy responses to problems like child poverty, increasing house prices, a lack of new jobs, the destruction of our waterways, increasing inequality and increasing foreign ownership of New Zealand, and put up one candidate in each electorate with a combined message they would definitely get a better result. The other million kiwis who were missing may never get engaged enough to show up. Merging into one party and sharing resources would make it a lot harder for the right-wingers to scaremonger too. No more 'Internet Mana and/or the Greens are mad' hopefully. It is sad to think that none of these issues will be addressed and that in 3 years all of the stats around these problems (well, those that National bother collecting) will only get worse. The third that vote National to protect their house prices will continue to do so unfortunately. They're making $83k a year on their houses on average. Untaxed. I suppose a vote for the Nats is a bit like saying 'Screw the kids and the environment - where's the money?' Maybe this just needs to be made more obvious?

    New Zealand • Since May 2009 • 371 posts Report Reply

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