Jacinda Ardern

[Ohokaman 5,825]

4 hours ago, rdytdy said:

Cindy gets snaky as Bridges calls out the 122 reviews the government has initiaited

by CS

 

Jacinda Ardern has gone all snaky attacking Simon Bridges over his claims about the 122 working groups, reviews, inquiries and investigations currently underway with this inept government.

She’s told an outright lie, declaring that there are only 36 working groups, reviews, inquiries and investigations: Quote:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has hit back at criticism by National leader Simon Bridges over the number of reviews her Government has initiated since taking office in October.

She rejects his claim that it has announced 122 reviews and says the number is 38 reviews or working groups that involve external agencies and work beyond the normal business of Government.

By settling on a lower number, she also rejects his estimate that the cost is $114 million and says it is $34.5 million. End quote.

 

Well that is easily disproved, and classifies as a lie, something Jacinda Ardern said she would never do. Clearly that was her first lie. The NZ Herald conveniently lists the 122 working groups, reviews, inquiries and investigations.Quote:

Ardern defended the use of reviews and working groups by saying it was a way to involved experts and ordinary New Zealanders in solving some big challenges and potentially save taxpayers millions of dollars in the long run.

National had made false claims about the extent of the work and inaccurately labelled regular Government business as review and working groups.

“Where we are doing review work, it’s because the public have called for it or there are genuine issues that need to be fixed – be it bowel screening, mental health or insurance claimed in Canterbury,” she said.

The review into the meth contamination of state houses by Sir Peter Gluckman was a is a prime example.

“We could have ignored the problem, or brought in the experts to stop more families being evicted, and avoiding unnecessary clean-up costs for landlords. ”

The $100 million National wasted on decontaminating houses could have built 300 more state homes – instead perfectly good ones sat empty.

“Now we are reopening those homes,” she sdaid.

“I’ve always said we are going to do Government differently, and one of the main ways we’re different is that we listen to experts and make sure everyday people have a say about the public services they rely on.” End quote.

But not the people of Taranakl though, they don’t get a say, they just get ordered to close down their most useful industry, and biggest employers all for a publicity and virtue-signalling prime minister. No consultation, no everyday people having a say. Obviously Taranaki’s industry isn’t at all a “big challenge”, and the closure of Methanex is neither here nor there. I can’t wait for question time, poor Winston is going to have to answer these questions when they are raised, and he is asked if he stands by all the governments statements and actions. Quote:

Ardern was responding to a press statement by Bridges today in which he targeted a review of the healthy system by Heather Simpson, a part-time adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office and the former chief of staff of Helen Clark when she was Prime Minister.

“While staffers in the Prime Minister’s Office get plum roles reviewing the health system, designated mental health and Maori development funding have been cut by $100 million, ” Bridges said.

“The Government needs to shelve its reviews and get its priorities straight – the $114 million could hire 2,100 extra teachers or pay for an extra 20,000 elective surgeries. Instead, the Government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars for others to do the work for it.”

The Government’s “underwhelming Budget” also showed that Labour, New Zealand First and the Greens could not figure out their priorities, were not ready to govern and were out of their depth.

“Whether it’s the broken promise on cheaper GP visits for all New Zealanders, the broken promise on affordable KiwiBuild housing, or the broken promise on school donations, the message is clear: New Zealanders cannot rely on Labour to deliver.” End quote.

Bridges came good yesterday. He attacked Ardern over this, and also the cash for access hypocrisy. The question will be whether or not he can maintain the headlines, or is this just a one hit wonder.

Labour are clearly struggling though, they had no plans or policy to implement upon gaining office. They never expected to govern and it shows. Their talent pool has proved to be as shallow as a bird bath.

One thing is certain…the “relentless positivity” has disappeared.

Didn't we listen to the "experts" ( of whom Gluckman and his mates were some ) about P before...?

Interesting that they gave National one answer and Labour something quite different. The whole thing smells...

[rdytdy 5,341]

Hooton on the real reason the government destroyed Taranaki industry

by CS

 

Matthew Hooton reveals the real reason why the government decided to crush Taranaki industry: Quote:

Farmers, tourism operators and everyone else better hope the Government doesn’t have another bad political month.

It’s now clear Jacinda Ardern’s announcement in April to end new oil and gas exploration was made in the context of the constant political crises that came her way through March.

The ban was not Labour Party policy and was ruled out during the election campaign.

It wasn’t in the Labour-NZ First coalition agreement, which was about supporting regional New Zealand. Nor did it appear in the Labour-Green confidence and supply agreement, which promised to de-politicise climate change policy by establishing a new independent Climate Change Commission and have all legislation subject to a climate-impact analysis.

 

Strictly speaking, the move was not even Government policy, having not been considered by Cabinet or analysed by officials.

The industry was left unawares until the night before the announcement, made ahead of Ardern’s town hall meeting with millennials in London.

The only economic and environmental advice the Government received on the proposal were brief memos in late February and early March.

Economically, ministers were told the industry was responsible for 8481 jobs nationally, 5941 of them in Taranaki. Discovering even a small new gas field would create 199 new jobs and add $160 million to regional GDP. A large one would boost jobs by 1163 and GDP by $1.4 billion.

On the environmental side, ministers were told the policy would most likely increase global greenhouse emissions, prevent domestic emissions from falling should more gas be found, and risk dirty coal replacing cleaner gas when existing reserves run out in seven years.

Precisely because this initial advice showed the proposal to be economically and environmentally vandalous is the most plausible explanation for why ministers decided to seek no more. End quote.

So why do it? Why wreck the lives of thousands and an industry that exports and  gives New Zealand energy security? Quote:

Instead, Ardern, Winston Peters and James Shaw worked on the proposal in their capacities as leaders of the Labour, NZ First and Green parties — and thus helpfully outside the scope of the Official Information Act and the prying eyes of officials, the industry, the media and the public.

Officials were only asked for titbits. Energy Minister Megan Woods queried which other countries had stopped oil and gas exploration. The only possible answer was France, which relies mainly on nuclear power and imports 99 per cent of its oil and gas needs.

Having excluded Treasury, the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) from the process, the Greens also insisted their new Climate Change Commission wouldn’t be the right body to consider the policy either.

Shaw has previously revealed he received no written advice at all on the ban’s short, medium or long-term effects on either New Zealand or global greenhouse emissions. He says he was told verbally by MfE that the policy would “prevent emissions from oil and gas rising any further than they would anyway if all known reserves of oil and gas are burnt”.

No one asked what would happen if New Zealand oil and gas was substituted by foreign oil or coal. End quote.

So why do it? Quote:

Could there be a more cavalier and shameful way for a Government to behave when making decisions affecting 8481 jobs, billions of dollars of exports and which it had been advised would most likely increase greenhouse emissions and thus worsen climate change?

The reason for the urgency is suggested by its context. After Labour’s mishandling of the sexual assault allegations at its summer camp, Winston Peters’ inexplicable stance on the Russian chemical weapons attack in the UK, Phil Twyford’s comical Pt Chevalier KiwiBuild announcement, and the scandal involving Clare Curran and RNZ, Ardern was desperate for something — anything — to reassure her core supporters.

Governments can, of course, make any decisions they like. We should encourage them to be bold and they are under no obligation to accept bureaucratic advice.

But Ardern’s behaviour is reminiscent of Murray McCully’s rogue policy-making over the Saudi sheep affair and Sir Robert Muldoon’s illegal announcement in 1975 scrapping the Kirk Government’s superannuation scheme.

It is made worse, for this columnist, by the Government’s lie that the policy was well signalled with the industry and publicly.

It suggests a Government that already appears as arrogant, dishonest, cynical and lacking in transparency as any before it.

The one saving grace is Ardern’s reassurance this is not how other decisions will be made.

Let’s hope that proves more reliable than her reassurance to the exploration industry prior to the election, and that she doesn’t decide to turn on your industry the next time she runs into a patch of bad media coverage. End quote.

Ironically this lackadaisical approach to governance, and a dabble on the dark side of despotism, has in fact caused its own patch of bad media coverage as people realise that this is nothing short of the ideological wrecking of an industry and all for some cool headlines for Jacinda Ardern to jet off to Europe with.

I shudder to think what the government will do to dairying when they finally get up the courage to destroy that industry too.

[chevy86 2,704]

On 6/5/2018 at 3:43 PM, crustyngrizzly said:

Labour to ban the use of single use plastic bags.

 

Well Jacinda had better tell "fish boy" to get his ocean-raping mates to stop throwing their bait bags over the side of their boats--they are the most common plastic bags I pick up on my shoreline walks.

[Ohokaman 5,825]

4 minutes ago, chevy86 said:

Well Jacinda had better tell "fish boy" to get his ocean-raping mates to stop throwing their bait bags over the side of their boats--they are the most common plastic bags I pick up on my shoreline walks.

NO, NO...can't be true.......surely you jest Chevy....fake news....

[chevy86 2,704]

1 hour ago, Ohokaman said:

NO, NO...can't be true.......surely you jest Chevy....fake news....

I'm sensing  an instant guilt defence from you O'man in your new aquatic NZ First territory!

[Ohokaman 5,825]

26 minutes ago, chevy86 said:

I'm sensing  an instant guilt defence from you O'man in your new aquatic NZ First territory!

Not me Chevy.....I let the neighbours go out to do the work....we just barbecue what they bring back.....

[chevy86 2,704]

15 minutes ago, Ohokaman said:

Not me Chevy.....I let the neighbours go out to do the work....we just barbecue what they bring back.....

Gotta love those "traditional fishing rights".

[rdytdy 5,341]

Arrogant, vacant, complacent and now sexist

by CS

 

Kelvin Davis has gotten himself into a spot of bother with his leader, with Jacinda Ardern giving her frowny face and a telling off to him for his sexist remarks at a select committee: Quote:

The Prime Minister has had words with her deputy over him calling a National MP “hysterical” and has told Kelvin Davis he shouldn’t have said it.

In a statement from Jacinda Ardern’s office, a spokeswoman said, “Minister Davis has apologised to Jacqui Dean and to the Prime Minister herself.

“The Prime Minister says he should not have made that comment and he understands that.”

National MP Jacqui Dean has accepted Davis’ apology for calling her “hysterical”, but says the comment was clearly “sexist”. End quote.

 

Whilst he may have apologised it is obvious that this issue highlights a wider issue of developing arrogance inside the government and inside Labour in particular.

Davis is Labour’s deputy leader, if their leadership is having problems what does that say about the rest of them? Quote:

The situation arose after Davis fronted select committee on Thursday to answer MPs’ questions about his portfolio in the wake of the Budget.

During one of many fiery exchanges, Davis called Dean “hysterical” for asking whether tourism jobs would be impacted as a result of increasing costs for small businesses.

When she responded that the comment was “offensive” Davis said, “you’ll be right”.

Hysteria originates from the Greek word for uterus and was an illness traditionally associated with the mental condition of a woman.

On Friday, Davis issued a statement apologising for the remark and for “any offence caused”.

“I’ve tried to contact Jacqui Dean today to apologise to her directly,” he said.

“Estimates hearings are about holding ministers to account for spending decisions. While I was prepared for a robust line of questioning, I became frustrated with the particular approach being taken –  but that was no excuse for making an offensive remark.

“We are doing great things in the Tourism portfolio, we’ve got innovative solutions to issues and challenges in the sector. That should have been the focus.

“I’m the minister, I should have remained calm and on this occasion I let myself down, so once again I apologise for my poor choice of words,” he said.

Dean said she accepted the apology and was sure he “regretted saying it”.

However, she said her line of questioning at the time wasn’t “untoward”, which is why she was “taken aback” by his comment.

Asked if it was sexist, she said “of course it was”. End quote.

Kelvin Davis will now likely go back into witless protection. Every time he comes out it seems it is to swap one foot in his mouth for the other. Between him, Phil Twyford and Willie Jackson, they are showing an astonishing amount of hubris for minister so clearly out of their depth.

The government is lurching from one idiot comment to the next from their ministers.

[rdytdy 5,341]

No houses yet built, but Twyford’s priority is to build an empire first

by CS

 

Phil ‘Figjam’ Twyford hasn’t managed to build or even start a single house yet, but he has managed to create the building blocks for his own personal housing empire: Quote:

Housing Minister Phil Twyford announced this morning the formation of the Housing and Urban Development Ministry, which would be in place by October.

It will bring together aspects of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and Treasury to advise the Government on housing issues.

“Addressing the national housing crisis is one of the biggest challenges our Government faces,” Twyford said.

“The new ministry will provide the focus and capability in the public service to deliver our reform agenda.”

It would be the Government’s lead adviser on housing and urban development, advising on issues including homelessness, ensuring affordable, warm, safe and dry rental housing in the private and public markets, and support for first home buyers. End quote.   

 

Yeah, because MBIE was such a bang up success, wasn’t it? How are more bureaucrats going to ensure foundations get laid, trusses get nailed and rooves get put on? Quote:

National has labelled the Government’s new housing ministry a dud that will not get more houses built.

“What we’ve got is a bit of rearranging of deckchairs. None of it is going to make a scrap of difference to building houses and by the end of the year this ministry won’t have built anything more,” said National’s housing spokeswoman Judith Collins.

“So, really it’s a bit of a dud.”

Collins said the new ministry would change nothing.

“Phil’s just trying to look like he’s doing something. He got a big budget allocation of $2 billion in the last Budget.

“So far all we’ve seen in KiwiBuild is he’s going to buy some buildings off the plans from private developers. His interventions so far are not improving the market.” End quote.

Smack, bang wallop and Twyford gets another kicking from national’s top performing MP. Quote:

Twyford told Radio New Zealand the move was aimed at providing more houses in a more efficient, capable and accountable way.

He said there was very little capability to deliver KiwiBuild. “We’re having to build that pretty much from scratch.” End quote.

So, how are more bureaucrats going to “help”?  Quote:

Collins said the move would not speed up the delivery of KiwiBuild housing because developers found it difficult to access funding and there was a shortage of skilled tradespeople in the building sector.

“The private sector is now being asked to produce the KiwiBuild houses and dwellings. The trouble that they’ve got is trying to get the funding but also trying to keep the tradespeople.” End quote.

Desperation is a stinky cologne, but it is all Twyford has right now.

[rdytdy 5,341]

Why have a new ministry when you won’t even accept their advice?

by CS

 

No one knows more about housing than former charity worker Phil Twyford. He’s good, just ask him.

He’s even said that even though his new super-ministry of housing (which will apparently solve the housing crisis) is being created he won’t listen to their advice if he doesn’t agree with it: Quote:

The minister establishing a new housing ministry may not consider its advice if it doesn’t suit his policy settings. 

Housing and Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development with a view to providing advice on KiwiBuild on Friday.

The ministry will be dedicated to advising the Government on policy and its plans to make homes more affordable and reduce homelessness. It had no targets yet, Twyford said.

When asked if he would commit to considering all advice the new ministry brought to him, even if he did not agree with it, Twyford said advice from officials to politicians was “just that”. 

“They’re not decisions. We [politicians] are elected to make the decisions. Sometimes you agree, sometimes you disagree.” End quote.

The hubris continues. Phil Twyford knows best. That’s why he is being called FIGJAM. Quote:

Phil Twyford is a political disaster waiting to happen. He is almost certainly being kept on to make Clare Curran look good.

[rdytdy 5,341]

Jacinderella and the glass ceiling

by Guest Post on June 8, 2018 at 4:00pm

 

Once upon a time in a dysfunctional kingdom, there lived a humble public servant girl named Jacinderella.

She worked in a Beehive with her ugly step-sisters, Greenella and Winstonella. And when we say ugly, we’re talking butt ugly.

And mean.

The only meaner thing in the village was the attack dog, Crushella Collins.

Jacinderella wasn’t expecting the role of unlikely fairy tale heroine; she gained it by default, after a glitch in the process meant the most favoured for the title, voted for by more people in the kingdom, unexpectedly fell into the moat.

 

Now don’t be thinking this story has a happy ending like the Disney movie. For starters, Disney had the lead role played by Hilary Duff. In our version, the lead is up the duff. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Let’s celebrate woman-power breaking down the male-dominated status quo and the smashing of gender stereotypes. Just clean up the mess after you. Those fragments of stereotype can hurt more than Lego.

Fundamental differences

It wasn’t a happy family. They had some fundamental differences of opinion.

Greenella was concerned about the rising moat level, wanted to close the mines and get rid of the warships; while Winstonella supported extractive industries, campaigned to boost naval firepower and opposed water taxation.

Jacinderella somehow had to keep the peace despite all the polarised attitudes in the household.

Throwing another party seemed like a good distraction from reality.

Party, party, party

There was great excitement in the village because there was going to be a ball.

Well, not so much as a ball, but a party.

A working party! There had been many working parties and it seemed endless more to come. Jacinderella was obsessed.

So she organised another one.

Because she didn’t have much to wear, and it suits the purpose of this story, it is necessary to have a fairy godmother turn up about now to lavish some stuff upon her. Jacinderella was wise in the ways of fairy godmothers because she had been pretending to be one for a good few months now, handing out other people’s hard-earned spoils in many directions, including across the vast oceans to Pacific villages.

This enraged many of the locals who’d done the work to earn a meagre living and believed there were more pressing needs in the neighbourhoods from where the cash was raised that should be sorted first. But that doesn’t help make a good fairy tale story so we’ll conveniently skip over it; much like the Coalition has.

Glass slippers

The fairy godmother waved her magical tax-funded wand and hey presto, Jacinderella had a beautiful gown with room for expansion and glass skippers for dancing on the legendary glass ceiling.

The fairy godmother turned a pumpkin into the swankiest limo in the kingdom. Not just the standard model, but the one with daytime LED running lights, park assist and ran purely on electrical power. (Despite Greenella’s desire to banish lithium mining.)

“But you must be back by midnight, my dear, or your limo will turn into Gerry Brownlee.”

So off to the party went Jacinderella!

Jacinderella was about to climb into her magical limo to go to the Working Party when the driver, looking flustered and depressed, said he couldn’t go any further because he hadn’t paid his regional fuel tax bill.

“No worries,” said Jacinderella, because I have a Fairy Godmother who can wave a magic wand which is just like a PayWave except we don’t pay,  the peasant taxpayers get the bill!”

So with the fuel tax bill picked up by the hard-working, tax-paying plebs, Jacinderella was off to the Working Party Ball.

But wait, I need some footmen!

No problem said the Fairy Godmother. The fairy godmother waved  her magic wand at Grantella Robertson  and “poof!”

 

She waved it again at Tamatella Coffey  and “poof!”

Chrisella Finlayson sashayed by, and “poof!”

“My word, there are a lot of poofs going on here,” exclaimed the Fairy Godmother.

Just at that moment, Israel Folau appeared on scene, shocked. “I’m out of here, before there are any more poofs.”

Grantella said he was more of a legman than a footman, but he’d fit in somewhere.

Tamatella said he’d happily be a footman but was feeling a cold front approaching so they’d better take a coat.

The cold front turned out to be Chrisella, who mumbled he would rather ride up the rear, so off went the carriage.

There was a sudden bump along the way.

Winstonella had fallen off the wagon again.

“Carry on,” cried Jacinderella. “We’ll leave the medical professionals to deal with it.

“Might as well get some value from all those nurses with pay rises.”

Arriving at the party, she was introduced to her husband, the prime minister of Canada.

He was not impressed with the venue.

He was told it was the Land of Plenty but said he’d rather be in Dunedin, which apparently has more culture than the Bay of Plenty and therefore a better place.

(to be continued…)

[rdytdy 5,341]

Mike Hosking: Time for Labour's xenophobic bollocks on foreign house buyers to end

I think the National Party made a very good point when they suggested it might just be time for the Labour Party to admit they were wrong when it came to absentee foreign house owners.

The number is three per cent. It was three per cent when they started crunching the numbers. It's remained three per cent ever since.

National argued while in office that of the issues facing housing, people sitting in foreign ports buying property and remaining absent wasn't one of the major ones.

Labour, for political reasons because as the numbers show they had absolutely no proof, pumped up the numbers. They told the tale that is was all these offshore millionaires and billionaires who were fleecing the locals and locking us out of the market.

Labour famously claimed the number was around 30 per cent. So wrong by about 10 times. This was the same Labour Party relying on evidence comprised of people buying houses with Chinese sounding names.

But still even with the evidence they intend to plough on and ban buyers. Which is now with evidence and fact shown to be bad policy - bad policy is policy based on belief that is shown to be incorrect.

It's even worse policy when you know you are wrong before the policy comes to pass and yet you still insist on ploughing on with it. And here's the super embarrassing thing: a lot of this problem has been based on race. Namely Asians. Asians have nicked all the houses.

Of the three per cent, less than half are Asian. The biggest group are Australians, but they don't look any different to us do they? So we can't point the finger.

You can't spot an Australian in the auction room. But you can see the Chinese and so this has turned into an embarrassing race blame game.

And which for those who have played the game, I hope now in some small way they feel slightly awkward - if not embarrassed.

It's been made slightly more complicated by the fact some get confused with foreign buyers versus local buyers of a certain race.

In other words, you might see an Asian buy a house and see them as a foreigner when in fact they're residents, if not citizens.

We had friends sell a house the other day to an Asian family. They have been here 15 years, they're as Kiwi as anyone. But if you're of a racist view you won't be seeing that.

The same way a German-American or Argentinian who had been here 15 years is a resident, and has every right to buy a house.

That is not foreign ownership, that is called immigration. And immigration is good for the country with its skills, investment, jobs and cultural expansion.

So one might hope now, armed with an increased series of facts, that we can at last put to bed the urban myth that the absentee owner is prolific, and locking us out of housing.

Because it's three per cent, it started out at three per cent, has remained three per cent, and is still three per cent.

It is not the issue the xenophobes want it to so desperately to be.

 

[rdytdy 5,341]

 

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Greens should be nervous about Winston Peters taking charge

There was a time when the thought of Winston Peters running the country was mostly either amusing or scary.

Amusing because it was never going to happen. Scary because the guy's completely unpredictable.

Now, it's neither amusing nor scary.

It's no longer funny because it's actually happening, thanks to the real PM's maternity leave.

But why is it no longer scary to consider Peters as PM?

A poll out last week showed most New Zealanders now trust him to run the country. Almost one third thought he'd do a good job, more than half thought he'd do just fine and only 11 per cent thought he'd be a shocker.

Compare that to a pre-election poll by the same company which showed more than half of New Zealanders didn't even want him near the more junior Finance Minister or Deputy PM jobs.

So why are we warming to wily old Peters?

It could be one of two reasons. Either the public has realised he's not that crazy. Or, he just seems a lot less crazy than the rest of the lot he's in government with.

You have to admit, Peters hasn't done too bad a job of Deputy PM and Foreign Minister.

For the most part he has been Awol overseas, shaking hands with British counterpart Boris Johnson and actually believing his personal intervention in Trump vs North Korea would prevent World War III. There have been no temper tantrums at radio journalists or "NO" signs. Nothing like that.

The worst Peters has done is to secure a slightly weird tax break for beautiful race horses and occasionally contradict the Prime Minister on major world events like Donald Trump acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Beltway stuff.

So, his good behaviour over the past eight months could be why the public's having a bit of a Peters love fest.

Or, it could be because he's about to give us six weeks' reprieve from some crazy carry-on, mostly from the Greens.

It turns out the Greens were responsible for the PM's disgraceful decision to ban future oil and gas exploration. A dump of official documents last week revealed that Greens co-leader James Shaw had written a (heavily redacted) letter to Ardern in February arguing exploration needed to be stopped. It was banned by April.

It's hard to know who deserves the most blame. The Greens for the original idea, or the PM for rushing the idea through without any advice or understanding of how much it would hurt the country.

Either way, it's hard to imagine this kind of nonsense happening on Peters' watch.

There's a good chance few major policy announcements will actually happen anyway for the next wee while. The Budget blew most of the surprises and spare change.

Still, just in case the Greens get any ideas, it's good to know Peters is in charge. He's got no time for the Greens. He didn't even meet with Shaw until days after the coalition deal was finalised. So he probably won't let any of their loopy ideas through for a good six weeks.

Which is welcome, because the Greens are fever-crazy at the moment.

In February it was oil and gas. Last week it was plastic bags and meat. Shaw, the Climate Change Minister, started the week telling us to cut out a meat meal a week to save the planet. Days later, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage picked up the loony baton and declared she planned to ban all single-use plastic bags by the end of the year. Don't worry, she's cooled her extremely ambitious plans.

Then, Shaw opened consultation on his bill to cut New Zealand's carbon emissions to zero. The documents admit doing that will slow economic growth and probably hurt poorer families most. We'll be clean but poor.

The Greens and their crazy ideas make Peters look decidedly sane. It might be quite nice to have an adult in charge for six weeks.

 

[Ohokaman 5,825]

2 hours ago, rdytdy said:

 

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Greens should be nervous about Winston Peters taking charge

There was a time when the thought of Winston Peters running the country was mostly either amusing or scary.

Amusing because it was never going to happen. Scary because the guy's completely unpredictable.

Now, it's neither amusing nor scary.

It's no longer funny because it's actually happening, thanks to the real PM's maternity leave.

But why is it no longer scary to consider Peters as PM?

A poll out last week showed most New Zealanders now trust him to run the country. Almost one third thought he'd do a good job, more than half thought he'd do just fine and only 11 per cent thought he'd be a shocker.

Compare that to a pre-election poll by the same company which showed more than half of New Zealanders didn't even want him near the more junior Finance Minister or Deputy PM jobs.

So why are we warming to wily old Peters?

It could be one of two reasons. Either the public has realised he's not that crazy. Or, he just seems a lot less crazy than the rest of the lot he's in government with.

You have to admit, Peters hasn't done too bad a job of Deputy PM and Foreign Minister.

For the most part he has been Awol overseas, shaking hands with British counterpart Boris Johnson and actually believing his personal intervention in Trump vs North Korea would prevent World War III. There have been no temper tantrums at radio journalists or "NO" signs. Nothing like that.

The worst Peters has done is to secure a slightly weird tax break for beautiful race horses and occasionally contradict the Prime Minister on major world events like Donald Trump acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Beltway stuff.

So, his good behaviour over the past eight months could be why the public's having a bit of a Peters love fest.

Or, it could be because he's about to give us six weeks' reprieve from some crazy carry-on, mostly from the Greens.

It turns out the Greens were responsible for the PM's disgraceful decision to ban future oil and gas exploration. A dump of official documents last week revealed that Greens co-leader James Shaw had written a (heavily redacted) letter to Ardern in February arguing exploration needed to be stopped. It was banned by April.

It's hard to know who deserves the most blame. The Greens for the original idea, or the PM for rushing the idea through without any advice or understanding of how much it would hurt the country.

Either way, it's hard to imagine this kind of nonsense happening on Peters' watch.

There's a good chance few major policy announcements will actually happen anyway for the next wee while. The Budget blew most of the surprises and spare change.

Still, just in case the Greens get any ideas, it's good to know Peters is in charge. He's got no time for the Greens. He didn't even meet with Shaw until days after the coalition deal was finalised. So he probably won't let any of their loopy ideas through for a good six weeks.

Which is welcome, because the Greens are fever-crazy at the moment.

In February it was oil and gas. Last week it was plastic bags and meat. Shaw, the Climate Change Minister, started the week telling us to cut out a meat meal a week to save the planet. Days later, Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage picked up the loony baton and declared she planned to ban all single-use plastic bags by the end of the year. Don't worry, she's cooled her extremely ambitious plans.

Then, Shaw opened consultation on his bill to cut New Zealand's carbon emissions to zero. The documents admit doing that will slow economic growth and probably hurt poorer families most. We'll be clean but poor.

The Greens and their crazy ideas make Peters look decidedly sane. It might be quite nice to have an adult in charge for six weeks.

 

Mainly because he's gradually losing the plot....filling in time before disappearing into the sunset.....

[rdytdy 5,341]

Fran O’Sullivan echoes Hooton’s claims about oil & gas

by CS

 

Fran O’Sullivan echoes Matthew Hooton’s claims about why Jacinda Ardern destroyed New Zealand’s oil and gas industry: Quote:

Jacinda Ardern’s use of prime ministerial fiat to ban new offshore oil and gas exploration is disturbingly Orwellian.

Official papers released by her hapless Energy Minister confirm what was already blindingly obvious to anyone who has observed closeup the process of Governmental decision-making — the ban was purely political.

A decision that was kicked upstairs and made by Ardern, NZ First Leader Winston Peters and Greens Leader James Shaw. And rushed through — without being contested through appropriate Cabinet consideration — so it could be announced on April 12 just before the Prime Minister headed to Europe.

What it also confirms — as I wrote in April — is Ardern put her debut as a global climate change warrior ahead of making credible plans to transition New Zealand away from a reliance on fossil fuels towards clean energy.

There’s no other way to interpret the documents and emails that have been released this week. End quote.

 

It was all for positive headlines from a virtue-signalling silly little girl masquerading as Prime Minister. Quote:

As Energy Minister Megan Woods put it: “This decision was about taking political leadership to act on climate change and its flow on impacts … it was a political decision, looking out 30 years and taking steps towards 2050 being emission neutral.”

In her public statements, Woods has conveniently overlooked the fact the decision was obviously also an economic one with considerable ramifications for the oil and gas industry and downstream players.

On April 10 — two days before Ardern unveiled the decision — officials warned Woods the proposed ban would be “detrimental to a number of public policy objectives”.

It would not only decrease economic activity in Taranaki (currently home to NZ’s highest paid provincial earners) and increase costs to consumers. But it would increase the risks around security of supply and result in a reduction in Crown revenues from lower future royalties.

Importantly , as the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) pointed out the reduction of domestic greenhouse gas emissions would be negligible. Said MBIE, it would more likely result in increased global emissions as methanol produced from gas at Methanex’s Taranaki plant would be replaced by methanol produced by using coal from China. End quote.

But Megan Woods and Jacinda Ardern know best. They’ve wrecked an industry for a lie, that this is going to improve the environment. They couldn’t have possibly known that: their advice, scant though it was, was the opposite. Quote:

This should have screamed red alert to a responsible Cabinet Minister and provoked others with relevant ministerial responsibilities — like Finance Minister Grant Robertson, Economic Development Minister David Parker and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones — to weigh in with advice from their officials.

But judging by the email trail, the Energy Minister was by now pretty much reduced to being the PM’s messenger — a mere go-between. End quote.

The Princess’s hand bag holder.

Jacinda Ardern stands charged with wrecking a key component of the national economy. Sadly, she will be long gone before the impact is truly felt and so is unlikely to be ever held to account. She may well go down as more of an economic vandal than even Sir Robert Muldoon.

[rdytdy 5,341]

Three strikes…

by Christie 

 

Even the puff pieces about the Prime Minister are getting a little more serious. This from Stuff Quote:

For Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, June 17 possibly cannot come soon enough.

On that day and for the six weeks that follow, her primary expectations will be at the end of two short, stubby arms.

Those expectations will involve basic needs: security, sustenance and sleep. She may even get some herself while keeping one eye on what’s going on at the Beehive.

That will all be a world away from the building maelstrom of needs and wants that appears to be pushing her still-young coalition Government into an increasingly uncomfortable corner. End quote.

 

Heat… kitchen…Quote:

Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s cautious Budget is looking a prudent one at this point. He left about $3 billion in the kitty for what his prime minister called a “rainy day”.

This week it poured.

The nurses appear for the moment to have thumbed their noses at an 18-month pay increase of about 10 per cent, if you include the lump-sum $2000 payment. Some nurses even deemed it insulting. Workers in other industries no doubt would love to be so insulted.

For now, strikes are still on.

How the nurses proceed from here will determine how far they take the public with them in their fight for more pay and better conditions; most people believe they deserve a significant pay rise; we believe they deserve one, and have said so previously. End quote.

After ‘nine years of neglect’, the floodgates have opened. It is funny, isn’t it, how it just so happens that, as soon as we get a Labour government, we seem to get a lot more strikes? I wonder why that is? Quote:

Robertson has dipped further into the surplus for another $250m to support their better offer, which included funding for more nurses and the mechanisms to decrease workloads. Nurses now get to vote on the improved offer.

How the Government handles those expectations and the threats of strike action will cause fallout not only for teachers, sure to follow with their own pay claims, but also other public sector workers and the private sector.

It may even impact on the Government’s chances of a second term.

Such pressure certainly makes changing the odd nappy look a lot more attractive. End quote.

Steven Joyce knew that these pay claims were coming. Part of the logic behind his $11.7 billion dollar hole was that nurses and teachers had significant pay demands on the table. Labour, and most of the media, laughed in his face and said their figures were right and that he was deliberately playing politics.  Doesn’t look that way now, does it?

Labour now finds itself between a rock and a hard place, and it is all its own fault. Because they never thought in a thousand years that they would win the election, they promised the earth, while believing they would never have to front up. But now they do.

First, it was the Lyttleton port workers. Now the nurses have rejected the latest offer. Teachers are looking for 14.5%. Auckland bus drivers are striking. It is going to be a long, cold winter.

The expectation is that the government will do what it promised. Add to that the unions, fuelled by power, and we have a very dark situation developing in this country.

Thing is, all of this also fuels inflation. It is an ugly merry go round. First, there were the fuel tax hikes. Now there are big pay demands. The fuel taxes haven’t actually kicked in yet, which will probably put fuel close to $2.50 per litre.  As prices increase because of massive fuel price hikes, then will come the next wave of pay claims. And on it goes.

This government’s legacy will be record petrol prices, industrial unrest, with strikes constantly disrupting normal business and high inflation. Add that to record immigration (even though they campaigned to reduce it, and many of us believed it), a lack of housing, a lack of infrastructure, and criminals all out of prison because there are not enough prisons to house them.

Remind me again who voted for this? But don’t worry, Princess. Your maternity leave start date is just about here.

[rdytdy 5,341]

 

 

 

32

Labour’s inept ministers continue to be exposed, this time it is gagging people and buying silence

by CS

 

Labour’s inept ministers continue to be exposed, this time it is gagging people and buying silence from critics by offering them jobs if they shut up: Quote:

Newshub has obtained a voicemail and emails which suggest the Health Minister tried to gag senior staff talking publicly about the state of embattled Middlemore Hospital.

In one case he even appeared to promise a board member, who he’d sacked, another job if they shut up.

“I notice more and more getting reported that is really not helping at all, and I’m hopeful that there won’t be much more commentary,” Health Minister David Clark said in a voicemail to District Health Board chair Rabin Rabindran.

“My fear is that if you and I keep commenting, the story keeps ticking along. I’d rather not have distraction about who said what when.”

However Mr Clark denies this, saying he was “absolutely not” trying to stop board members from speaking out. End quote.

 

Of course he wasn’t. No he wouldn’t do that would he…not when his poo in the walls story was exposed for the fake news it was…no he didn’t want that to stop at all. /sarc Quote:

“There were a lot of conversations happening through the media and that meant there wasn’t clear communication about what was going on, and that’s unhelpful,” he told Newshub.

The voicemail was left on April 18th, two weeks after he sacked Mr Rabindran. In the same voicemail, Mr Clark offered him a new job.

“I would consider you for further appointments because I think that sends a message.” End quote.

That message would be ‘shut up and we will look after you’. Quote:

National MP Jami-Lee Ross says Mr Clark was “dangling [a job] to gag [Rabindran] and silence him”.

Mr Clark told Newshub he “absolutely rejects” this claim.

A trail of emails obtained by Newshub show DHB acting CEO Gloria Johnson wanted to release information to get their side of the story across because their reputations were being damaged.

A board member emailed Dr Johnson, concerned that the Minister’s office was pressuring the DHB about what they could and couldn’t say.

“If the minister is accusing us of covering something up we need to address that quickly and directly,” the email read.

“They are saying they need more time and want us [especially] me to ‘suck it up’.”

Mr Clark says he is not aware of anyone being told to “suck it up” and is adamant he’s done nothing wrong.

However, it’s clear that senior staff at the DHB were angry with the accusations being made by Mr Clark, and felt gagged. End quote.

It is also clear that no new job has been forthcoming for Radindran and so he’s decided to out the minister for his sloppy attempt at controlling the narrative.

Labour ministers are continually to show just how inept and accident prone they are. I can’t remember a more inept ministry.

Jacinda Ardern is going to have to sack one of these fools as the list of idiots gets longer and longer.

We’ve had the minister for open government refusing to cough up details and covering up meetings, then Megan Woods destroying an entire industry so her boss can virtue-signal to European politicians and students, Andrew Little screwing up justice reform by failing to talk to his coalition partners. Kelvin Davis finally admitting a conflict of interest, as well as attacking a female opposition MP in a derogatory manner in a select committee. Different male Labour ministers groping and being condescending to Judith Collins. Plus plenty more stupidity going on, and most of it seems to be Labour ministers.

Someone is going to have to do something soon with this government as they lurch from one bad news cycle to the next.

[rdytdy 5,341]

Duncan Garner’s brutal assessment of a dysfunctional government

by CS

 

Duncan Garner delivers a brutal assessment of a dysfunctional government: Quote:

You have to hand it to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – that wide happy smile, no matter how forced, must be getting harder to hold and hide behind.

Because for all the good, lofty intentions and talk of compassion, the naivety and inexperience of this Government has set in, and it looks vulnerable and even terminal at times. Without Ardern, who knows what will happen.  End quote.

It is clear that Jacinda Ardern has no idea what leadership is all about. She is all style over substance, and the irony is Labour spent more than nine years accusing John Key of the same. Now instead of catwalks, three way handshakes and silly pronunciation, we have visits to kindies and schools, sloganeering and lazy speaking. It must be difficult for Labour sycophants to reconcile. Quote:

I mean Golriz the Green was even hailing a 500-bed prison as a stunning success, a fresh approach to rehabilitation, until someone pointed out the truth. The double bunks she railed against were still there, and now in every second cell. Reality over principle is called cost.  End quote.

 

And just yesterday she was tweeting about war crimes needing to prosecuted without even a shred of self awareness, humility or embarrassment considering she defended the worst scum of earth from prosecution for genocide and war crimes. Quote:

It’s taken them three minutes to look as shabby, arrogant and as broken-down as a third-term government suffering rampant hubris and pleading to be put out of its misery.  End quote.

With one idiot minister after another presenting their credentials for the world’s biggest fool, one wonders just precisely what it takes to get the sack in Jacinda’s government of imbeciles. Quote:

The maternity-break winter report makes bleak reading. And the warning in flashing lights screams one-term wonders. Could Jacinda Ardern be a former prime minister at age 40? Perhaps. Maybe that’s unfair. Maybe not.

Her greatest asset could be National leader Simon Bridges, who not only sounds unconvincing but, given all the material on offer, lacks conviction and diction.  End quote.

I wonder when the media will start looking at Jacinda Ardern’s own diction issues. The list of words she can’t say is rather long: absoludely, postividdy, somethink, poverdy. . . the list goes on. Quote:

Businesses don’t trust what’s next with this coalition of the willing but barely able.

Water bottling plants that were going to be stopped are now being expanded, thanks to the Greens minister Eugenie Sage, and to the horror of her party.

Shane Jones criticised our corporate farmers at Fonterra and actually got some support for attacking the aloof and out-of-touch beast. But it’s not Government policy, just an exercise in blowing hard and moving on to create the impression change is coming.

Ardern didn’t even attempt to get into an arm wrestle with Jones and, apart from looking disinterested and weak, the other prime minister and MMP MVP Winston Peters had already backed his man-mouthpiece, also known as Northland’s one-stop regional development shop, where everyone gets a handout or a dressing down, depending on what sort of Jonesy turns up.

And when big transformational change came, no-one saw it coming. Ardern took it down the blindside and kicked an industry not only in the guts but over the stands and into touch.

The oil and gas industry is on death row, no debate, no consultation, no future, just the rotten smell of decay when Ardern slipped on the destroy button – otherwise known as her climate change moment. An astonishing instance, making history by closing an entire industry without a debate around the Cabinet table.  End quote.

A shocking list of indictments of slogans over substance, ideology over facts. The sad thing is real people are being hurt by this idiocy. Quote:

Andrew Little was finally doing himself justice until he publicly fell for one of the old dog’s tricks, believing Winston would support a headline that read “Soft on crime works, violent offenders to rehabilitate in the safety of your street”.

My question is why did Ardern even wait for Peters to hit the kill switch when, as PM, she had every right to pull the plug on dumb ideas. That she didn’t shows a worrying reluctance to play the ruthless card that Helen Clark wielded like a stick hovering over errant but scared and shaking ministers on an almost daily basis.  End quote.

Good question. Blind Freddy and his dog can see that proposing to axe three strikes is electoral poison. But Jacinda Ardern just went and visited another kindy and Fieldays. Quote:

In other news, Clare Curran has been neutered, Phil Twyford is now chief investor, buying houses not building them. It’s called Kiwihoax – when building gets too hard.

Then there’s Kelvin Davis, who takes over if Winston forgets to show. But Davis is the weakest link, a possum in the prison lights, when the question was so easy: are we double-bunking tonight? Answer? Over to you, Ray Smith, Corrections boss. The excuse for the latest blank was nerves. Let’s hope Davis heads back to his marae tour to ask what Māori really want. A roadtrip designed to protect Davis from becoming roadkill.  End quote.

The damage is being done by Labour’s own ministers who are showing that they were unprepared, lazy and incompetent. Quote:

Then there’s the failing health minister who’s fighting for his job.

Then there’s Willie, and someone called Carmel, and Stu’s 1800 cops that is really 1000. Oh dear, prime minister, rest up, use your pregnant pause wisely, take care and use your newly found parenting skills on your return to running your Government.

In the meantime, Grant’s directing play, but Winston’s in charge. End quote.

Not even Grant Robertson is competent. I’m told by Labour and government insiders that most of the budget was written by others.

Jacinda Ardern will be hoping that breast feeding her baby is easier than managing those muppets.

[6xes 699]

On 6/15/2018 at 1:53 PM, rdytdy said:

 

 

 

32

Labour’s inept ministers continue to be exposed, this time it is gagging people and buying silence

by CS

 

Labour’s inept ministers continue to be exposed, this time it is gagging people and buying silence from critics by offering them jobs if they shut up: Quote:

 

Im not a Fan of both this individual or Grant Robertson...

and for both to be put in positions as ministers of the office they hold... makes me somewhat uneasy.

my personal opinion is both of these ministers have reprobate minds... this should raise alarms in itself

 

in one sense im glad they are being exposed.. for their ineptness.. it might lead to their resigning of their positions!!

and hopefully someone with sound godly principles takes their post!!

[Ohokaman 5,825]

And this won't help either...

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12071568

[6xes 699]

15 minutes ago, Ohokaman said:

And this won't help either...

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12071568

I think its high time that there be a clean out of politicians!! A drain the swamp if you will!! lol

People in Nz care more about what they get in their pockets.. as opposed to keeping the integrity and leadership at a high level!!

 

It sort of reminds of the experiment about a frog in a pot of continual heated water

 

people feel or sense the changes taking place... and have become accustomed to the changing enviroment

This is the real danger facing Nz

[flockofewes2 216]

As far as the present Govt goes,a number of ministers are showing promise.But when you look at the alternative,there's an absolute dearth of talent.Talk about the B Team.

[rdytdy 5,341]

‘Stuff’ editorial outlines the government’s continued pratfalls

by CS

 

A Stuff editorial outlines the government’s continued pratfalls: Quote:

To err is human, to put it on a voicemail message is simply stupid.

Health Minister David Clark is considered a bit of a hotshot. Barely a year into his political career, he was shoulder-tapped by then-Labour leader David Shearer to man-mark National’s formidable Mr Fixit, Steven Joyce.

Veteran political commentator Vernon Small described him as Labour’s “new rocket man”.

This week the rocket crashed. Spectacularly. End quote.

 

There is more to come, I’m told, with even more explosive information leaking out of the angry staff at Middlemore. Quote:

It appears Clark has been caught attempting to silence health officials over sewage and mould running down the walls at Middlemore Hospital.

That in itself will be nothing new. Governments have used various tactics over the years to wrestle the narrative and control the story. But those levers are usually pulled behind closed doors.

Clark has erred unforgivably by exposing the inner workings of the political machine; if the leaked voicemail is genuine, he has compounded that error by appearing to link that silence to the possibility of future employment.

Even worse, if that were possible, he has placed a potentially damaging recording in the hands of a man he played a role in removing: the message was for former Counties Manukau District Health Board chairman Rabin Rabindran, who resigned after clashes with Clark over issues at the hospital. End quote.

Clark should be held to account. The Cabinet Manual is clear on matters such as this. But, the Cabinet Manual is used as a doorstop these days by a prime minister who is more concerned about virtue signalling overseas than reining in stupid ministers. Quote:

The “rocket man” is likely to walk away from the crash, but it represents yet another incident of uncontrolled and damaging combustion in a young coalition Government struggling to launch.

Shane Jones is a walking, talking combustion engine. He likes nothing more than lighting a fire under what he deems the soft underbelly of corporate complacency and regional neglect.

He will find plenty of fuel for his latest populist attack, on dairy giant Fonterra, but his incendiary language and calls for co-op chairman John Wilson to “catch the next cab out of town” go too far for a man of his standing and influence.

Some dismiss the oratorical arsonist as a political outlier and a mere buffoon – fellow ministers roll their eyes and shrug their shoulders at the latest outburst from “Jonesy” – but it’s not just his reputation and a few ivory towers he’s burning down.

Jones is a minister of the Crown, a party to some measure of Cabinet responsibility. No-one is expecting him to entirely toe the line, but they are right to be concerned at his penchant for obliterating it.

Others have been joining him at the bonfire: Broadcasting Minister Clare Curran was lucky to survive her naive meeting with former RNZ head of content Carol Hirschfeld and the clumsy handling of the fallout; Kelvin Davis has frankly made a pig’s ear of communicating the Government’s highly sensitive moves towards cutting the prison population; and Phil Twyford has demonstrated that a man wanting to build 100,000 homes must first have a good grasp of the numbers.

Some of this has been simply amateurish.

Such things are often a sign of a government that has outlived its mandate and begun to implode around the core of its own perceived importance. In its tiredness it can trip over the most obvious hurdles.

This Government is barely nine months old. It needs to find its feet, and quickly. End quote.

Damning, but then there is much to damn this government for.

Even blind Freddy and his trained seal can see that the government are inept. Now the media are saying out loud what many voters have been thinking for some time.

Once the fuss and bother of the world’s first woman to have a baby is over the media will focus on what is actually being done, or, more to the point, what isn’t being done.

[6xes 699]

18 minutes ago, rdytdy said:

Quote:

The “rocket man” is likely to walk away from the crash, but it represents yet another incident of uncontrolled and damaging combustion in a young coalition Government struggling to launch.

Shane Jones is a walking, talking combustion engine. He likes nothing more than lighting a fire under what he deems the soft underbelly of corporate complacency and regional neglect.

He will find plenty of fuel for his latest populist attack, on dairy giant Fonterra, but his incendiary language and calls for co-op chairman John Wilson to “catch the next cab out of town” go too far for a man of his standing and influence.

 

Im glad in one respect Shane Jones Left the Labour party... he would have been doing just this... when he revealed a issue with the Nz foodstuffs and price fixing.

Now at least... being behind Nz First leader Winston Peters...he wont be so easily silenced!!

[rdytdy 5,341]

The negative narrative continues for this government

by CS

 

It appears that Jacinda-mania is over and that media have finally realised the princess has no answers.

If there ever was a honeymoon it is well over now as the government lurches from one crisis after another and almost all are self inflicted.

Stacey Kirk is the latest to put down the Kool-Aid sippy cup: Quote:

Consensus government in action, or a bloody awful mess? 

It’s difficult to characterise the past week as anything but the latter and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern may be worried about whether she’ll have a Government to come back to when she returns from maternity leave.

Her first born is officially due today, and what is surely a time of nervous excitement for the expanding First Family will carry an added layer of anxiety.

Her MPs don’t exactly make it easy for her. End quote.

 

That is because they are mostly shiftless, stupid and stumbling. Quote:

The chickens have come home to roost for the Government this week, with the Opposition enjoying what’s likely to be far too many “told you so” moments for Ardern’s liking.

And if this week has illustrated anything it’s what lies at the beating heart of any coalition-related controversy – Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has been at the centre of everything.

That goes to the heart of a strategy the National Party developed at the start of the year during its intensive two-day caucus strategy meeting: don’t target Peters, there’s simply no need. 

And to a certain extent, National’s strategy of divide and conquer gained some abstract success this week too.  End quote.

Actually, Winston Peters isn’t at the centre of everything. All of the government’s problems are centred on inept Labour ministers. Quote:

It began with a hastily-arranged press conference by Justice Minister Andrew Little, to reveal that his grand plan to repeal the three strikes legislation had been shot out of the sky.

He’d spent the previous week giving interviews about his plans to take it to Cabinet and push forward – the only issue was, he did not have the numbers to do so. More embarrassingly for Little, Peters decided to wait until the 11th hour to let him know.

Total humiliation  awaits any member of Cabinet who threatens to step outside the bounds of MMP and attempt a “first past the post”-style power play to get ahead of public opinion – that’s what Little got and really, he should have expected it. End quote.

It was poor coalition management from Andrew Little, and Jacinda Ardern who was more concerned about travel arrangements from Auckland to Hamilton for some more soft media ahead of her birth. Quote:

When the PM comes back in six weeks saying “hey guys, what did I miss?” her officials may be looking sideways.

“Perhaps you’d better sit down for this one, Prime Minister.” End quote.

I don’t think things are going to get better for this government. Actually, much, much worse. The David Clark story has much, much more to come, and Kelvin Davis isn’t out of the woods either.