Auckland Mayoral Election

[morepork]

He was put there to promote the privatization of public assets and intellectual property via the TPP. As soon as that dog of a "deal" was dead, he bailed, and not one journalist seems to have questioned that association. Now we have a crumbling infrastructure, education from preschool through to tertiary that exists only to feed a quick buck to a select few. Some of the for-profit institutes charging for hotel management type qualifications are a fucking disgrace. Science and engineering discovery are practically dead as the government vultures everything at the earliest possible point without investing in development. Given we have absolutely no protection for any industry and all industry seems geared for export, what is the next magic free market salve? The shit Key has got away with beggars belief (GCSB anyone?) but hey, your house is still worth heaps. If you have one.

[cashead]

And he finally found his legacy - the war criminal PM. I guess that means we're a big boy country now!

[morepork]

I saw that. What chance this also is not swept under the rug?

[cashead]

It had been. Hager dragged it back out. The then-defence minister has also confirmed that the gist of what the book is about is also accurate.

[scuzzaman]

Even the most lefty Labour governments have said that the SAS are a weapon that needs to be kept sharp. They have justified NZ involvement in all sorts of imperial lunacy, with that metaphor.

I have no truck with Key or the National party - they're not any tiniest bit preferable to Labour. But they're not any worse, either. Just bad in (marginally) different ways.

Quite how the weapon is kept sharp by using it to slaughter villagers is not something I've seen any politician of any stripe attempt to answer. As a younger man I had a Bowie knife, but I never used it to butter my toast.

[cashead]

Sorry, but that's just a bullshit non-excuse rationalisation for those who try to justify their non-participation. Aside from that, it wasn't the previous Labour government that authorised any bullshit revenge-oriented missions that we now know involved slaughtering women and children.

Aside from that, it's not Labour that in the last 9 years that has overseen the national debt skyrocket to pay for tax cuts that only benefited the already wealthy, increased GST that hit the low-income earners the hardest, has put in place educational policies like the fucking National cunting Standards that has seen academic achievement for students stall, has removed financial support structures for the needy which their own fucking ministers benefited from (I'm looking at you, Paula Bennett, you fucking parasite - tell us how the Training Incentive Allowance was expendable, you fuck), has defunded support centres for rape victims and mental health programmes, retroactively legalised illegal activity by the GCSB, privatised prisons which saw appalling human rights abuses - and had the fucking audacity to joke about it (go fuck yourself Judith, you know full well what the fuck you were saying, you fucking scum), state education funding has stalled while private schools get more and more money each year and shockingly mismanaged for-profit charter schools were introduced with no oversight whatsoever, and employment law that is regressive, predatory and exploitative was introduced targeting the young and vulnerable, all while putting state houses on the market while there's a fucking homelessness crisis going on - one of which was the cunting home John Key fucking grew up in.

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned that fucking flag referendum that was so fucking pointless that it resulted in no fucking change in the fucking flag with no actual definitive fucking understand of fucking whether or fucking not the fucking people of this fucking country fucking want another fucking flag. Fuck. And guess what? That shit cost over $100million to organise, while that fucking smug cunt with a fucking five-head cried poverty.

One's no worse than the other? Fuck off. The previous Labour government saw 9 consecutive surpluses which helped this country ride through the GFC comparatively unscathed, as well as other useful things like Kiwisaver. The fuck has National given us? All they're about is putting shit off until it becomes an overwhelming catastrophe for someone else to deal with, while pulling up the ladder they climbed up and kicking downwards. Fuck them.

[canta_brian]

Sorry, but that's just a bullshit non-excuse rationalisation for those who try to justify their non-participation. Aside from that, it wasn't the previous Labour government that authorised any bullshit revenge-oriented missions that we now know involved slaughtering women and children.

Aside from that, it's not Labour that in the last 9 years that has overseen the national debt skyrocket to pay for tax cuts that only benefited the already wealthy, increased GST that hit the low-income earners the hardest, has put in place educational policies like the fucking National cunting Standards that has seen academic achievement for students stall, has removed financial support structures for the needy which their own fucking ministers benefited from (I'm looking at you, Paula Bennett, you fucking parasite - tell us how the Training Incentive Allowance was expendable, you fuck), has defunded support centres for rape victims and mental health programmes, retroactively legalised illegal activity by the GCSB, privatised prisons which saw appalling human rights abuses - and had the fucking audacity to joke about it (go fuck yourself Judith, you know full well what the fuck you were saying, you fucking scum), state education funding has stalled while private schools get more and more money each year and shockingly mismanaged for-profit charter schools were introduced with no oversight whatsoever, and employment law that is regressive, predatory and exploitative was introduced targeting the young and vulnerable, all while putting state houses on the market while there's a fucking homelessness crisis going on - one of which was the cunting home John Key fucking grew up in.

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned that fucking flag referendum that was so fucking pointless that it resulted in no fucking change in the fucking flag with no actual definitive fucking understand of fucking whether or fucking not the fucking people of this fucking country fucking want another fucking flag. Fuck. And guess what? That shit cost over $100million to organise, while that fucking smug cunt with a fucking five-head cried poverty.

One's no worse than the other? Fuck off. The previous Labour government saw 9 consecutive surpluses which helped this country ride through the GFC comparatively unscathed, as well as other useful things like Kiwisaver. The fuck has National given us? All they're about is putting shit off until it becomes an overwhelming catastrophe for someone else to deal with, while pulling up the ladder they climbed up and kicking downwards. Fuck them.

Well said.

[J Dory]

I'm still trying to figure out what the bowie knife toast buttering thing meant.

[morepork]

I see free trade deals with China are all the rage on the NZ Harold website. Jesus, is it possible to open your legs that wide?

[jared_7]

I see free trade deals with China are all the rage on the NZ Harold website. Jesus, is it possible to open your legs that wide?

But that was offset by the article smartly outlining Richard Branson's view that we should restructure our faming economy around growing the most potent ganja known to man, man.

[cashead]

Turns out it was Wayne Mapp that talked to Stephenson and Hager.

[morepork]

Once again, the media fawns over one of the architects of "economic reform". With all due respect to the family of the recently deceased, fuck you Doug. You and your round table mates freed up everything to engineer a quick profit for about a dozen old white guys whilst simultaneously savaging social welfare, education, and income. I especially like the way you guys tried to base the benefit threshold on the physiological minimum energetic intake a human body needs to "survive"

[morepork]

Johns Keys given a knighthood. Lucky he reinstated them when he was in power. What are the criteria for these things? Selling out then running away when you can sell no more? What a fucking joke.

[morepork]

....and Julie Christie.....sweet baby jesus...

[zer0]

Johns Keys given a knighthood. Lucky he reinstated them when he was in power. What are the criteria for these things? Selling out then running away when you can sell no more? What a fucking joke.

Knights were typically the ones doing the dirty work of screwing the peasants for their masters, so it would seem quite apt that he officially be made one.

[cashead]

What a fucking joke.

[morepork]

What the fuck is happening to the Labour party? A dull culinarily handicapped replacement Prime Minister that advocates for austerity over a functional infrastructure, has irrigated half of the country into a toxic nitrate wasteland, covers for a shambolic for-profit ponzi tertiary education system, ignores a mental health system in obvious crisis, and dialogue in the media regarding the opposition is dominated by how charismatic the leader of the opposition should be?? Are there assassination squads gunning for investigative journalists or what?

[cashead]

There's been a massive downward shift in the quality of investigative journalism, where shrieky sensationalists like Paddy Gower and Duncan Garner, as well as smarmy propagandists seem to get the plum jobs, while people who've done some fucking great work in the past like Campbell get turfed out from TV.

Basically, fuck this stupid country.

[Mr Mwenda]

It's the same all over. They've worked at that killing journalism takes the inconvenience out of politricks.

[morepork]

There's been a massive downward shift in the quality of investigative journalism, where shrieky sensationalists like Paddy Gower and Duncan Garner, as well as smarmy propagandists seem to get the plum jobs, while people who've done some fucking great work in the past like Campbell get turfed out from TV.

Basically, fuck this stupid country.

It's looking pretty grim. I don't think people in NZ are really aware of how badly fucked over they are by the purging of the media. I mean stuff like the ministry of transport whistleblowers and Bridges blocking an OIA request just blows away. What about abuse of wards of the state over the last 30 odd years? Is that too hard to look into?

[cashead]

It's starting to look likelier and likelier that National will be in opposition for a while. They're floundering and haemorrhaging swing voters to Labour, and they've just given Winston Peters the same sort of platform that he was given in 2011, when he barged his way back into parliament.

In about 3 weeks, it'll probably be a Labour-NZF-Greens government. Labour will probably take around 40%, NZF will probably get between 10~15% and the Greens to get 8 or 9%.

The Maori party will probably be a one-MP party via Te Ururoa Flavell retaining the Waiariki electorate and may have just enough to retain Marama Fox as a List MP (I don't think she'll take the Ikaroa-Rawhiti seat off Labour). They've gone on record stating that they'll work with whomever is occupying the 9th floor, so they'll probably hash out a confidence and supply agreement with the government.

ACT will probably survive via the Epsom electorate, but will likely be dead after 1 term in opposition.

National will likely see a huge down-swing in their list MP numbers, and I wouldn't bet against them losing several electorate seats. Nicky Hager wrote an interesting column recently about Dirty Politics 3 years on, and I think the recent Peters scandal highlights the impact his book had. That kind of obvious hit job on Peters was right out of the Key cabinet playbook, but there was an almost immediate blowback against National, and their strenuous denials of any involvement were met with scepticism because of their previous form. Of course they'll deny it, by why would anyone believe them after the last 10 or so years?

It's pretty clear that Labour will likely snag Ohariu, as their current candidate, former NZPA president Greg O'Connor was well ahead of Dunne before the bow-tied one decided to step down. Other key electorates for Labour are Christchurch Central and Maungakiekie.

What I would be interested in watching is how National respond in October, when I'm fairly certain Bill English will either stand down, or face a leadership challenge. I suspect they'll be in a similar situation to what Labour faced immediately after Helen Clark left, in that there is a severe paucity of viable candidates for leadership among the senior MPs. Maybe Nikki Kaye, by virtue of appearing competent via 1. not completely and utterly mishandling her portfolios like all the other suck-ass fuck-up MPs around her, or 2. not being a corrupt shitlord like Collins (how in the everloving fuck is this woman still in politics?).

[Spy]

I agree that we're probably heading for a change of government. It's been a remarkable turn-around in fortunes over the past 3 weeks or so, and demonstrates the power of personality in politics. After 3 terms of a government, I think many people are looking for a change, and Adern has offered that. Pretty much what happened to the last Labour government. Tide comes in, tide goes out.

It annoys me that Winnie P will play the Kingmaker role again. It seems he's much more likely to go with Labour than National, but who can tell with that guy.

Re English, he'll surely be finished as leader if National lose this election.

[cashead]

There had been an appetite for change, but nothing to really galvanise them until Ardern's swift promotion. The polling prior to Ardern's ascension, where Labour were generally peaking at about 30% and then falling to around 25%, actually had the combined opposition having parity with, if not outright outpolling the government. The difference is that Labour's likely partners in government are big enough to have their own identities, whereas National's partners (United Future and ACT) had their support base gobbled up by the government, and were kept alive by Key and English's grace rather than through any actual realistic levels of support. UF's support peaked in 2002, and they've been been on life-support through the Ohariu seat, where Dunne maintained a presence through National's endorsement, and ACT's support imploded in 2011 (coincidentally when National inadvertently gave Peters a lifeline), and similarly, only exists through the Epsom seat granted to them by National.

I thought it was going to be a bit of a hospital pass by Little - whom I think, like Shearer, would've been a good PM but was clearly not much of an opposition leader - but Ardern's made some impressive gains with what she's had to work with.

Thinking on the potential National leadership candidates after the election, it's remarkable how unelectable most of them are.

Paula Bennett - there's a reason why she's conspicuous by her absence in this election, despite being deputy PM.
Amy Adams - a possibility, but her handling of social housing will be an albatross around her neck
Stephen Joyce - has routinely financially mismanaged every portfolio that he's had, and it is impossible for him not to come off like a smarmy Tory
Jonathan Coleman - his shocking handling of the health portfolio and alleged links to corporate interests makes him unelectable
Judith Collins - lol
Nikki Kaye - could work, but everything about her comes off as being inauthentic and focus group tested
Gerry Brownlee - double lol
Nick Smith - rofl
Anyone else?

[morepork]

That's quite a role call of fuckheads for National there. You want to talk about personalities in politics, every one of the individuals on that list represent a serious disconnect with what is happening on the ground. Has anyone on here been to towns on the East Cape or in the Waikato over the past few years? It's fucking grim for young people out there. Infrastructure is fraying, and people are suffering. Slashing budgets, selling out infrastructure and sucking off dairy farmers is not really a long term solution. The instigators of this remedial "policy" know this and will all trundle off to various boards and directorships with their pockets lined. Note the reduction in chirping from media cheerleaders following the departure of John Key. It's an absolute disgrace, and I just hope the damage is not irreparable. There is a generation coming through that has eft-all to look forward to and that has to be dealt with.

[morepork]

Joyce just shat the bed on Radio NZ. Not going well for Mr. Smirky.