Jacinda Ardern

[rdytdy 5,341]

Bridges says Cindy is ‘hard to trust’

by CS

 

Simon Bridges says Jacinda Ardern is ‘hard to trust’. How can this be, she never tells a lie? Quote:

Leader of the Opposition Simon Bridges says the prime minister misled Kiwis over when the chief technology officer role was offered to Derek Handley.

He called attention to an apparent discrepancy between when Handley said he was offered the job, and Jacinda Ardern’s comments on the recruitment process.

 

On August 24, Ardern described Handley as a “qualified and capable candidate” for the role. She indicated a decision was still to be made, with the appointment process in its “final stages”.

This week, Handley said he was offered and accepted the position a month ago.  End quote.

Someone is telling porkies. Given the less than truthful handling of when precisely Clare Curran resigned I’d say that Derek Handley is telling the truth. Quote:

Bridges called this Ardern’s “second recent timing lapse” after she told the media a week ago that she wouldn’t fire Curran “when she knew her wayward minister had already resigned”.  End quote.

Yep. Jacinda Ardern doesn’t directly lie, she lies by omission, That is still lying. Quote:

However, a spokesman for the prime minister said Handley was “inaccurate” to say he’d been offered the job a month ago.

While Handley may have been the “preferred candidate” at this point, “he did not have a full and final signed-off agreement,” he said.

“There is no discrepancy. At that time [August 24] Derek Handley was still in the recruitment process.”  End quote.

Jacinda Ardern is getting real good in dancing on the head of a pin in those tiny little tap clogs. Quote:

The Government will pay Derek Handley $107,500 in compensation after telling him he would become the country’s first chief technology officer and then withdrawing the offer.

Bridges slammed the “non-appointment” as an “expensive shambles” that would cost the taxpayer.

He said while the PM “is allowed to be friends with Mr Handley”, the public deserves to know the level of personal friendship and must be assured there were no direct communications between them about the appointment.

“The Prime Minister also needs to assure New Zealanders that the handling of Mr Handley’s citizenship was above board, since he was quoted back in March saying: ‘The Government changed and in its first month, this was done’,” he said.

“Until she comes clean about the Handley saga it will be hard to trust her assurances on anything.” End quote.

Remember the fuss over Peter Thiel’s citizenship…now it looks like Labour has a similar scandal on their hands. Jacinda Ardern also has to answer questions over her cozy dinner with Handley, and her boyfriend along with Brooke Sabin.

From the outside it looks like it is a classic case of a crony appointment with a scant regard for due process.

One thing is certain now though. Jacinda Ardern has failed her own standards, she has fallen under the very high bar she set when it comes to being truthful. She certainly can no longer claim to never tell lies.

[rdytdy 5,341]

A "WOFTAM" speech by Socialist Cindy yesterday. (Waste Of Farkin Time And Money)

Cindy delivers nothing more than a TED Talk

by CS

 

Jacinda Ardern has delivered what supposed to be a reset for her failing government.

Instead she delivered something that was somewhat less that a TED Talk. NewstalkZB has said as much: Quote:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has finished speaking at an event in Auckland this afternoon, where she outlined the coalition government’s plans.

Ardern, alongside other leaders from the coalition, gave a ‘blueprint’ and priorities for where the government was headed.

The Council of Trade Unions says the coalition government has already made a difference to the lives of New Zealanders, because compassion’s at its heart.

The CTU says a hands-off Government was not working for New Zealand.

It says it’s very positive to see a Government that is committed to lifting living standards for all.

However, it says the Government can’t shoulder the responsibility alone and businesses absolutely must be prepared to pay higher wages.

Comparatively, The Taxpayers’ Union isn’t impressed by today’s event, comparing the Prime Minister’s speech to a Ted talk.

It says it was focused on dividing the economic cake rather than growing it.

The group says there was not a single mention of New Zealand’s plummeting business confidence.

The National Party was also critical of the Prime Minister’s address.

Leader Simon Bridges called Ardern’s speech a “rah-rah” speech that resembled a Ted Talk, adding that the PM was “desperate to show a united Government after the shambles of the past few weeks”.

What is in question is her judgment, her ability to lead a competent Government and whether her administration has a plan for dealing with the real issues facing New Zealand,” Bridges said in a statement.

Bridges also said the speech showed a “Trump-like attempt to avoid tough questions with a stage-managed pep rally and carefully vetted questions. This is a Government in damage control trying desperately to get itself together.” End quote.

I read it to see if there was anything I needed to be worried about. Then I read it again to see if it actually said anything.

Lots of fairy dust, no substance is my assessment.

 

 

 

[rdytdy 5,341]

A desperate attempt to manufacture good news

by CS

 

The media haven’t bought the sweetness and light Ted talk of the prime minister.

They are mostly scathing, including Tracy Watkins:Quote:

We’re no “dysfunction junction”, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters declared after his and Jacinda Ardern’s unity extravaganza, promptly handing the Opposition a new name to roast them with.

Since over-egging media expectations usually goes badly in politics Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s offsiders were careful to let it be known in advance that she would not be announcing any new policies in her speech this weekend.

 

So National’s conclusion that it was a Trump-like “rah-rah” rally wasn’t entirely wide of the mark as the speech to a friendly audience of about 400 people was clearly about energising the troops a year on from the election. End quote.

That is a generous description of nothing more than a school debating society pep rally. Quote:

The biggest symbolism of all, however, was in what wasn’t said – like Ardern’s failure to mention even once the words Labour-led Government. End quote.

That’s because we all know it is a NZ First-led government. Quote:

In fact, Labour appears to be a dirty word in what we are told is a new era of MMP government, with Ardern’s speech notes mentioning her own party just once during a 25-minute speech – and that was in the same breath as NZ First and the Green Party all being party to a “shared vision and shared values”.

It is difficult to recall a speech by any prime minister in recent years that was not peppered with references to their own party and its achievements. End quote.

Pretty hard to pepper your speech with achievements unless you count stuff ups as achievements. Quote:

But that wasn’t all that was missing. After being invited onto the stage for what media had been told would be a speech introducing Ardern, Peters failed to mention the “A” word – Ardern – in  his roll call of the Government’s achievements. 

Even the term prime minister seemed to be another dirty word since it wasn’t mentioned, even when Peters segued to the slick video presentation that was supposed to set the scene for Ardern’s turn on the stage.

In fact, Peters’ reference to “the Government” being supported by the will of the people didn’t  give any credit at all to Labour or Ardern, who is by far the most popular figure in politics.

Like Ardern, Peters at least did not shy away from mentioning the “war”, insisting that their disagreements were not a sign of weakness but strength. End quote.

Riiiight. Sounds like happy families. Quote:

But if the show of unity was all about putting to bed the perception of a government that is feeling the strains of a coalition of disparate interests and personalities it fell a little short. End quote.

Sounds like it went down like a cup of cold sick. Quote:

The speech has put some stakes in the ground, however, and the next stage will be gruntier, with Ardern unveiling a series of measures by which to measure her Government, potentially including some that previous administrations shied away from, like home ownership. End quote.

Why have we had to wait a year for a motherhood and apple pie speech and still have no details of the government’s policy agenda. It is sloppy, lazy and pathetic. Quote:

But for now the pressure is on for Ardern to break the stalemate with NZ First on their disagreements before she leaves for a United Nations meeting in New York this week.

While the refugee dispute is not about a big increase in numbers it is a stake in the ground for the type of Government she leads, and there is expected to be a lot of focus on Ardern by international media while she is at the UN.

But Ardern will have to tread carefully to avoid any perception of a trade off in workers rights, which are the other key area of disagreement with NZ First.

Peters has pulled the rug out from under Labour over a key component of those reforms, and any watering down of the provisions will be seen as selling out Labour’s base.

And the base are far from ready to swallow that Labour is a dirty word. End quote.

Labour is a swear word in my family. Things haven’t changed. The government is being let down by that dirty word.

Labour’s internal polling must be pretty dire if they have had to pull this stunt off of the back of cancelling media one on one interviews. Pretty dire indeed.

[rdytdy 5,341]

Mike Hosking: A Government defined by sheer hopelessness

It is one of the older tricks in the book, when you're the government and you're in trouble, dump the bad news on Friday.

This current Government is excellent at it. And this past Friday was Derek Handley.

The previous Friday was the Curran resignation, other Fridays have also involved the revelation of the Curran meeting and, of course, the Meka Whaitiri scandal.

 

 

 

All on Fridays. All designed to be lost in the Friday hubbub of people at the pub, going away for the weekend, watching the All Blacks, and generally by Monday putting it behind them.

But given it happens so often these days the magic and effect has sort of faded.

What made the latest Friday dump so egregious is that Derek Handley, and I hadn't realised this until the revelation, had moved his entire family home from New York for a job that got butchered.

And the best we got was Meghan Woods, the Prime Minister was missing in action again, Meghan Woods saying it could have been handled better.

No kidding, Sherlock.

A bloke moves his whole family halfway round the world to get shafted by incompetence, no wonder he's ropeable.

Of course one of the ironies, is that Handley is, of course, an entrepreneur. And like most entrepreneurs I would have guessed would be very dubious about governments given the way they treated him.

So in that sense they were lucky to have him as a contender for the job. He would seem to have been a very high quality candidate.

Although there remain many questions about what he would have actually been doing.
Was it a job in title only? We may never know given the whole thing seems to have been shelved.

Anyway the upshot is he's been shafted, Curran is a disgrace, Ardern is, yet again, being shown to be a combination of weak and absent.

And it is yet another example of this lot, mainly Labour, doing everything possible to make themselves look inept.

Now, if there is a light at the end of this calamitous tunnel, it's that my gut says it won't hurt them in the polls.

Two years out from the next vote, most of us are getting on with life, rather than peering at Wellington with a microscope.

The economy is the thing that really turns sentiment. And there is plenty in that particular storm still brewing, and I have no doubt it will bite them in the bum badly.

But for now this mess around your Currans and Handleys is what they call optics.
Yes, it's a mess. Yes they're amateurish. But it's more flesh wound than body blow.

But if this is a result of sheer hopelessness rather than teething issues of a newish government, then there will be a day of reckoning.

If the economy turns and they still look bewildered, they're toast.

[chevy86 2,704]

Ted, I'm guessing you will be hoping to get a copy of "Stardust and Substance" (signed by our princess) in your Santa Sack this Xmas!

[rdytdy 5,341]

1 hour ago, chevy86 said:

Ted, I'm guessing you will be hoping to get a copy of "Stardust and Substance" (signed by our princess) in your Santa Sack this Xmas!

 

Asbestos & Lack Of Substance would be a better name for it.  

[rdytdy 5,341]

 

[jack 429]

...Attack the hubby Ted!! .... Media that desperate its conjure`s up FAKE NEWS , Next minit its about the GRANDPARENTS!!!

[tripple alliance 1,025]

O'dear another kick in the nuts for those who trusted cindy , the troops are staying in Iraq , this on top of signing the TTP must be a bitter disappointment for the fools who believed her when she said troops out and the TTP is an attack on our sovereignty .

For anyone who was conned by labour changing of the name of the TTP , the changes made were only pencilled in and will revert to the original agreement if and when the USA decides to join , that will happen when Trumps turn is up . If anyone is worried about our sovereignty and independence the biggest threat we face is from the  climate change insurgents , the Paris agreement has the potential to evolve into a new world order , an organization with more power than almost any government in the western world , they will control trade with threats of do as we say or our membership won't buy , that's the real threat we face , it's time to wake up to this real threat to our independence .

[rdytdy 5,341]

Jacinda Ardern is doing nothing for women in power

by Christie

 

Jacinda Ardern came to power a year ago amid much fanfare about her being a(nother) woman in a premier’s role, and how groundbreaking it was for women. It wasn’t groundbreaking, of course – she wasn’t even the first female PM this country has had, although everyone seemed to have forgotten that. She came to power leading a fractious, three-way coalition government with almost no talent or experience among its ranks – and that includes her. But that didn’t matter. She was a woman, she was going to lead the world and everything would be wonderful.

I seriously wonder if anyone really believed that, or if they were just fervently hoping for the best. During their election campaign, this government had made wild, overblown promises that they never expected they would have to keep. Jacinda promised that she wouldn’t lie and that there would be no strikes. This government was going to ‘bring kindness back’ as if all governments that went before were the sort that sent people to the gulag. Never fear, Jacinda is now here.

So, one year on, how is the woman who was going to save the world doing?

Badly.

She is not just doing a bad job in government, she is doing a terrible job for women in positions of influence. I hardly know where to start.

 

First, once she became prime minister, suddenly, she was also pregnant. Okay, no big deal. People have babies all the time.  But those who asked the perfectly reasonable question of how she was going to manage both being prime minister and a first-time mother were shot down as filthy misogynists who wanted to keep women in the kitchen where they belonged. It was a perfectly reasonable question, and those who asked it have since been vindicated.

The answer is that she is not managing well at all. Baby Neve is dragged around the country on an almost daily basis because her father can’t breastfeed. Nobody seemed to have thought of this when hailing Jacinda as the woman who really could do anything. In spite of assurances that she could handle the situation, having to take a private plane to get to Nauru only demonstrates once again that she didn’t have a clue what she was taking on when she became New Zealand’s first pregnant prime minister.

Misogynists -1 Jacinda -0

I think Jacinda has the mistaken impression that ‘captain’s calls’ make her look strong and decisive. They don’t. Destroying a profitable industry as a ‘captains call’ without any form of consultation is more oligarthic than anything. With 150 working groups already in place, she may be giving the impression that she is strong on consultation, but the treatment of the oil and gas industry shows that she can behave like a true dictator if she feels like it. This lack of consistency does not show strength in leadership. It just means no one will know what she is likely to do from one day to the next.

Misogynists -2 Jacinda -0

Being prime minister is a tough job and one that calls for hard tasks to be done sometimes. They didn’t call John Key ‘the smiling assassin’ for nothing, but John Key always knew when an axe needed to fall, and he did it swiftly and with precision.  The Clare Curran debacle showed Jacinda as weak, indecisive and unable to do the hard stuff when she needs to. The same problem has now evolved with Meka Waitiri, and yet again, the media are not going to let this go away.

Meka cracking
Photoshopped image credit: Luke

Misogynists -3 Jacinda -0

Speaking of the media, Jacinda started off well with them. They adored her. She was a socialist to a leftist mob, a panacea for all the evils thrust upon us by those nasty Tories. Initially, her friendly and open style was a refreshing change from the crusty politicians of old, but now Jacinda avoids all the hard questions, clearly afraid to front up to some of the issues that she has not handled well. Cancelling two media interviews last weekend just shows that she’s scared, and making excuses such as ‘diary issues’ makes her look like a liar. The funny thing is that the media adoration towards her initially was almost cult-like in its fervour but playing games and failing to be honest, has done her no favours. That she managed to lose them so quickly is surprising, but then again, being truthful and turning up when you say you will always goes a long way in the media world.

Misogynists -4 Jacinda -0

Speaking of diary issues, I cannot think of a worse look for a so-called powerful woman than a boyfriend who steps in to defend her every time something goes wrong. It really is a dreadful look. It is very ‘knight in shining armour’ of Clarke to leap to her defence every time someone criticises her, but all it does is make her look even more weak and pathetic.

A female premier whose boyfriend feels he has to take to the airwaves in her defence all the time is a joke, countering everything that people say about strong women. Can you imagine Denis Thatcher doing that or even Peter Davidson? Most successful women would be completely mortified. The fact that she either can’t tell Clarke to butt out, or she won’t, tells us even more that she has no strength of character, and she really is nothing more than a little girl in a fairy story.

Misogynists -5 Jacinda -0

I love @NZClarke’s reference to Jacinda doing ‘stand up’. It makes me think of Jerry Seinfeld or Ricky Gervais. I’m sure that is not the kind of ‘stand up’ that he meant. But that kind of stand up is all that we’ve got.

[rdytdy 5,341]

For those of you who missed Cindy's speech on Sunday here is a transcript of it:

Dear proletariat.

We are proud of what I have accomplished in our first year after the previous nine years of neglect by the previous government.

In the last year, I have successfully managed to kowtow to Greenpeace and have destroyed the provinces occupied by greenhouse gas producing, water consuming cows. Oh, and I also dealt to those cows with mandatory cullings.

Speaking of cullings, my dearest flatmate Claire accepted the resignation letter that happened to slide in front of her following a conversation in my office. That was a hard thing to bear, but I remain hopeful that Meka will whakaingoatia shortly (which is Te Reo by the way).

You see, we are a coalition that stands for cuts.

Cut out pay rises, cut cows, cut charter schools, cut free speech, cut single-use plastic bags, cut off any option of repatriating the terminally ill Bali holidaymaker, cut guest appearances on scheduled TV slots, cut cabinet ministers, cut business confidence, cut important ties with 5 Eye partners. We did this!

 

But we are also a government of balance. So alongside the cuts, we had additions. That is what responsible governments do. The Hon Minister Grant Robertson explained to me once that this is called, “Balancing the Books.” So I have added regional fuel taxes, over 100 working groups and expert panels, tried to add thousands of refugees (thinking of the children), added increases to MPs resource allowances, added millions to the Pacific Island bank accounts, and my finest accomplishment, I added a baby!

Babies. There are babies being born in Nauru as we speak. These from people who are trying to enter Australia but cannot afford the basics like passports or an actual visa. They also cannot afford to obtain a clear police clearance from their home nations for some reason. Despite that, they need my assistance and so I believe it is my personal responsibility to bring in the babies along with their support team (mother, father, 5 children (think of the children) aunties, uncles, their adopted cousins) but we will have limits my people. We will limit it to family up to three times removed. I mean, we don’t want an invasion or anything

[Pause for laughter]

My government has also added plenty of supplementaries to the opposition side of the house through what in my opinion are timely and well thought out interjections. Our coalition partners  (the ones that sit in the far corner of the house), kindly donated their supplementaries to the opposition and I wish to personally thank Simon Bridges for wasting most of those on question one every day.

In the last year I have visited many people in leadership roles around the world. A shout out to my pals, Justin and Jeremy. We have much in common. Firstly our dislike of Lauren Southern who comes from Justin’s country and embarked on a hate speech tour in Jeremy’s. Secondly, we love Muslim refugees. Thirdly, we support Palestine’s right to exist as a sovereign nation against the evil occupiers. I know I speak on behalf of the nation about all this.

It was great having conversations with my future voters. To the adjacently young men and women at Wellington high school, Otumoetai college, Amesbury school, and others keep the faith and think of the children. I understand the youth as well as I know that Catholics eat a lot of fish and chips on Friday. Why they do that that is beyond me. I was told it has something to do with that Jewish man who died around Easter about 2000 years ago (his name escapes me). By some quirk of maths it turns that in 1883, nine days after Good Friday, another great prophet and philosopher was born – Karl Marx. A man ahead of his time.

Once again for balance, I was required to meet the orange looking one who people march about a lot. He has a great sense of humour (which in Te Amerika is spelled “humor”)

[pause for laughter]

I think he liked my funny joke. Or so people close to me tell me

[point to Heather]

Hi Heather, great to see you here tonight!

Now you all want to know what the next five years of our glorious reign will involve. For that, we will wait and base that on what the 100 or so working groups come back with. I am expecting to make a full announcement of that exclusively in the Woman’s Weekly around the time of Neve’s first kindy visit. My dear colleague Winston Peters rightly says that this is a work in progress and we were having a laugh together the other day as to how he is so funny for not telling me what that work is. He is such a hoot.

Anyway, that is all for now. My 757 is waiting to take Clarke, Neve and I off to the UN this evening. It should be a blast. Really looking forward to meeting Nicolás.

Thank you and good day comrades.

[tripple alliance 1,025]

A new low from cindy if that's possible , an interview with hunter .

She spoke about the "crude" way the political system measures wealth by GDP growth and explained why the Government plans to introduce a 'wellbeing Budget' in 2019.

As an example she talked about a family who run a business and made a good profit.

"But in doing so they've churned out waste into the local river and their child has mental health issues and they haven't accessed decent education that year, well is that really wealth and is that really a country that's prospering or a family that's prospering?" she asked. '' 

Shocking ,This woman hasn't got a clue , the people she is talking about are simply hard working tax payers , does she really want small business people to close down , sack their staff and become benefit recipients , lets all put our hands out for a few freebees and then we will see real problems in society  , this woman is unbelievable .

 

 

 

[jack 429]

Hmmm...

[Ohokaman 5,825]

8 hours ago, jack said:

Hmmm...

Rich coming from an "immigrant" from South Africa.....

[rdytdy 5,341]

The PM’s gaffe: Why it matters

by Christie 

 

While she writes fluff pieces about 125 years of women’s suffrage and does interviews and photo shoots around the subject, Jacinda Ardern needs to take the time to develop even a small understanding of the economy, what reports are produced and when, and above all, what GDP is.

This is because what happened on Tuesday when she was talking to Mike Hosking was, to say the least, deeply embarrassing. She clearly had no idea what he was meaning when he asked about the GDP figures, and the conversation went on without her having even a small clue about what they were talking about.

The reason it matters is demonstrated admirably by the fact that the dollar rose almost a cent against the US dollar, on the back of a ‘hint’ from the prime minster that the June GDP figures were going to be good news.

 

Illogical though it can be, (David Lange once referred to the markets as ‘reef fish’), markets rely on sentiment, and a ‘hint’ from the prime minister that things are better than expected in the economy has a positive effect on that sentiment, and the markets react accordingly.

Once the markets realised that a Newstalk ZB journalist was much more up with the play on economic matters than the prime minister, the dollar dropped back, ending the day lower than on the previous day.

This matters. It matters to exporters, securing a deal on Tuesday for selling their goods overseas. It matters to importers, setting an exchange rate for goods being brought into the country. It matters to fund managers looking after investments, particularly in foreign companies. Some people lost money on Tuesday because of the prime minister’s embarrassing gaffe. (Some may have made money too, but that was literally dumb luck.)  Statements from the prime minister make a difference, and she needs to understand that.

It will do nothing for sentiment when the markets process the fact that the prime minister does not know the difference between the Crown accounts and GDP statistics. She didn’t even know enough to point out that there is no way she could have had a ‘hint’ about June quarter GDP, because that information is given to absolutely no one prior to the official release time.

The markets don’t care about the Crown accounts. They are the government’s books. But markets care a lot about growth indicators such as GDP.

I don’t believe that it is as simple as her not knowing the difference between Crown accounts and GDP. Listening to her conversation with Hosking, I will go as far as to say that she doesn’t have a clue about either.

It is fair to say that these matters should be left to the finance minister, but the prime minister is expected to know the basics of how the economy is run, and to be able to answer questions about it, even if only at a high level. It is economic sabotage for the prime minister to give an opinion on something that can have such a severe impact not only on the economy but also on business confidence, which is an area where this government has struggled so far.

Some (but not all) of the female MPs ( including unelected list MPs) in a recreation of an iconic photo of male elected MPs taken in 1905 in the Reading room of the Parliamentary library.

So while she is fluffing around over the next few days with issues like the celebration of women’s suffrage, it is important to note that the country is being run by a silly little girl with absolutely no knowledge of economic matters who demonstrates her complete ignorance on a regular basis, and then obfuscates immediately afterwards to cover up her incompetence. Writing fluff pieces about women’s suffrage really is all she is good for.

I think we can assume that business confidence will not be improving any time soon, thanks to this show of abject stupidity.

[chevy86 2,704]

2 Ministers sacked within the first year--is that a record? And here is the world being told "women can do anything!" Well 2 of them now taking a hike. Watch a Parliamentary bitch-fight break out any time soon.(and that is not Robertson vs Finlayson)

As that truly successful business woman Carmel Fisher said  "back off sisterhood, the biggest impediment to women getting ahead in business is other women".

[Ohokaman 5,825]

She is a fucking embarrassment. We've been saying from the start she is hopelessly out of her depth and nothing she does changes that perception.

[rdytdy 5,341]

[rdytdy 5,341]

All for the UN’s benefit

by Christie on September 22, 2018 at 4:00pm

 

If there was ever any doubt that Jacinda’s determination to increase the refugee quota was entirely aimed at impressing the UN during her visit to New York this month, that doubt has been completely dispelled. One News reports that this announcement will give New Zealand ‘strength’ ahead of the UN summit.

Yesterday’s refugee quota announcement, paired with the ban on oil and gas exploration announced in April, will give Jacinda Ardern more credibility and a stronger hand while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week, she said.

“Of course, doing your part adds to your weight that you’re able to bring to the debate,” she told 1 NEWS political editor Jessica Mutch McKay in a one-on-one interview today. end quote.

 

Even though the vast majority of people here in New Zealand do not want to increase the refugee quota? Even though your own coalition partners point out that we have a housing crisis here already, which will only be made worse by this move? quote:

During what will be her first UN General Assembly meeting, the Prime Minister has been chosen to deliver a number of keynote addresses, including for the opening of UN Climate Week. In devising her strategy for the week, Ms Ardern said she turned to our past.

“Nuclear proliferation is a great example,” she said. “New Zealand’s always been looked to as an exemplar because we’ve always taken a firm stance and we’ve acted on it. On climate change I hope we’ll be seen in the same way. But yes, the refugee quote is about us doing our bit in response to a humanitarian crisis.” end quote.

I really don’t know why she keeps going on about the nuclear issue. Yes, David Lange stood up to the big, bad USA and refused to accept their warships into our ports, in case they were armed with nuclear weapons. The result was decades in the cold with our allies, which was only thawed by John Key’s relationship with Obama. International relations matter, although clearly 

Jacinda doesn’t think so. quote:

Ms Ardern announced yesterday that starting in 2020 New Zealand will help resettle 1500 refugees here per year, 500 more than the current amount and double what it will have been just five years earlier. The move has been hailed by the Red Cross and other humanitarian groups. end quote.

Yeah… in 2020. Something does not smell quite right here. If she had her way, she would be shipping in boatloads of refugees right now. So why 2020? Why does it have to wait?

Well, the reason is obvious. She has placated Winston, given him something in return, and has got him to agree to a quota increase two years out… which might actually be after the next election.

In other words, like capital gains tax, we may be voting on this in 2020. Bring it on.

In the meantime, she can go off to New York, looking like the new star on the horizon who will say all the right things at the UN addresses that she attends. She will not give a single thought to those of us back home who really hate what she is doing to our country, and what she intends to do in the future.

If you were in doubt before, now you are not. Jacinda wants to impress the UN. She doesn’t give a toss about the people at home. That’s you and me, by the way.

quote:

 

[rdytdy 5,341]

Nothing enrages voters more than expanded entitlements for politicians

by CS

 

Politicians are a bunch of entitled, precious little cupcakes. Their entire existence is a pampered, taxpayer-funded lifestyle where every conceivable expense that normal people have to suck up is paid for out of the public purse.

But it is never enough. Now, Jacinda Ardern has extended those entitlements to have the taxpayer cough up for nannies: Quote:

The rules for ministers travelling overseas have been expanded to allow the Prime Minister or a minister with a baby to take a nanny or other carer at the taxpayer’s cost – but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the taxpayer will not be expected to pay for both her partner and a carer for baby Neve.

 

Ardern heads to New York with partner Clarke Gayford and Neve on Saturday, but said she was paying for Gayford’s flights herself because there were not many engagements for partners on the trip.

“There is no spousal programme for this, so we just made a judgment call that we would cover his travel for this trip. He will be going to some things, but he’s primarily travelling to care for Neve.”

The Herald has learned that after Ardern became Prime Minister, the guidelines for ministers’ overseas travel set by the Cabinet Office were reviewed and changed.

They now allow a minister with a young infant to take someone other than a partner to care for that child or for a minister with a disability to take a support person if needed.

Ardern said she had not sought the change for parents of babies and did not intend to use the extra entitlement herself. She would only allow it for other ministers in “exceptional circumstances.” End Quote.

Explaining is losing, Cindy dear. If the prime minister didn’t seek it then who did? What made her, (and it was her who changed it because this the responsibility of the prime minister and no one else), decide that this was of such pressing importance that it needed changing?

No one in the private sector gets entitlements like this. What’s the bet that if pressure is applied to Ardern she will come back with a statement that she thinks all employers should pay for nannies travel.

Sources inside Labour are saying that the Labour women’s caucus is pushing for all employers to pay nannies travel expenses as part of their ongoing gender equity campaign.

The reality is that voters hate this sort of stuff. Working people and the private sector don’t get these diabolical liberties that Jacinda Ardern has just added to the list of entitlements that already well-compensated MPs can avail themselves of.

This will cause more damage because despite what the prime minister claims it looks self-serving. She’s on $500k plus a year, she can afford her own nanny, as can most ministers.

It’s almost like Ardern’s government has been reading Animal Farm as a manual for how government operates and not as a warning.

Animal Farm: All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than oth

[bloke 1,232]

I see that GDP increased by 1% for the June Quarter. Gee Ted and all that cutting and pasting shit about the economy tanking, well you have been proved wrong. But quick tune in and get your dose of the prize wanker Hoskings firing up about her. 

I see that Jenny Shipley is up in Court as she does not appear to know what trading while insolvent or the solvency test means. Just another useless Tory leader along  Bill English who helped himself to rent that he was not entitled to and should have also been in Court, that old rooter and racist Don Brash still spewing out his hate and of course the biggest Socialist of them all Rob Muldoon. Lets not also forget Pullar Key who became the but of jokes from the World press. Finally wanna be leader Crusher Collins or is her name now Twisted Sister.

 

 

[tripple alliance 1,025]

This lot goes from bad to worse , Cindy playing with the baby at the UN , there she is dangling it about for all to see while attending some peace summit , she has no problem using her child as a political prop ,  some would say a form of child abuse . On a positive but deceptive note she announced a $300 million spend on the climate scam in the pacific but it turns out this was just a redistribution of money already committed . Drugs , why won't she sign/support Trumps  war on drugs document , 130 other country's have , is this because we want to lower prisoner numbers so arresting drug crims wouldn't help that cause or is this a deal with the greens who want a soft approach to crims and damaging drug abuse , (40 dead so far this year) , I wonder how this fits with next years ''wellbeing budget'' and last but not least cindys oil and gas exploration ban , Official advice on the impact of the decision from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) warns the decision will be financially costly. Officials estimated the fiscal impact from lost revenues between 2027 and 2050 would be a hit of $7.9 billion on a net present value basis. .

And that's not the only cost , here's the latest Brent crude oil price , $81.44 the highest it's been for a very  long time ,  no wonder Aucklanders are feeling the pissed off , fuel up house prices down 4% (Barfoot and Thompson) , bye bye cindy .

[Uriah Heap 481]

1 hour ago, tripple alliance said:

This lot goes from bad to worse , Cindy playing with the baby at the UN , there she is dangling it about for all to see while attending some peace summit , she has no problem using her child as a political prop ,  some would say a form of child abuse .

Yeah... keep this up triple alliance. There's a bigger picture here and your churlish chipping of the PM, while she's promoting NZ on the big stage, shows just how dim you are. Even Simon Bridges and rdytdy have gone quiet for a few days.

 

[rdytdy 5,341]

Socialist Cindypants… liar liar  

Derek Hangry spoils Cindy’s Big Apple Party

by CS

 

Derek Handley is going to have to be renamed Derek Hangry after he released his texts between Clare Curran, Jacinda Ardern and himself.  Quote:

They show that the prime minister has at best misled parliament, or worse deliberately lied. They also expose her private email to OIA requests now. For someone who claimed she never lies she looks to have been found wanting:

Tech entrepreneur Derek Handley says his correspondence with the prime minister and former Digital Services Minister Clare Curran shows there was nothing inappropriate or untoward. End quote.

 

On the contrary the text messages show that Jacinda Ardern has misled. She said she never engaged but the text message trail suggests otherwise. She even gave Handley her private email address.   Quote:

Mr Handley this morning released a statement and redacted email and text correspondence between himself and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and himself and Ms Curran about the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) role and his move back to New Zealand.

In the statement, Mr Handley said there has been continued questioning and speculation over this correspondence and what role it may have played in the CTO appointment process.

“I felt throughout that the right thing to do was to refrain from commenting as I did not see it as my role to clear up concerns regarding a government process or contents of related communications,” he said.

“However, the resulting vacuum has fuelled speculation and demands to see emails and texts between myself and Clare Curran and Jacinda Ardern. The government has chosen not to fill that vacuum.”

The communications have become the focus of ongoing scrutiny by the opposition.

Last week Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Parliament she had received a text message from Mr Handley mentioning the CTO role some months earlier which she “did not recall directly engaging with“. End quote.

But she handed over her private email address. Derek Handley has just ruined her Big Apple Party.   Quote:

Messages Mr Handley provided to media indicated there were several texts but no specific reply to the message mentioning the CTO job.

Speaking to reporters in New York today, Ardern said she never engaged directly with Mr Handley about the CTO role.

Ms Ardern said when Mr Handley texted her about the job, she did not respond. End quote.

But she did. She is dancing on the head of a pin here. Those emails can now be OIA’d and it is unlikely the vast redactions supplied by Handley will remain.

DH JA Text Jan 1 Sep 23 2018 Redacted by CS on Scribd

Jacinda Ardern can no longer claims she never engaged. She clearly did.   Quote:

The entrepreneur also released text messages between him and Ms Curran. End quote.

DH CC Texts 10 Mar Sep 22 2018 Redacted by CS on Scribd

Those text messages are utterly cringeworthy. What is interesting too is that this so-called tech entrepreneur and someone pushing for the CTO roles uses an iPhone 5s!   Quote:

Mr Handley said he still hadn’t received an explanation as to why the government was not going ahead with his appointment as CTO and he was disappointed the prime minister had not provided one.

“The handling of the Chief Technology Officer appointment and subsequent fall out in the last four weeks is likely to be discouraging to anyone from the private sector contemplating making a contribution to New Zealand through a government role,” he said in a statement.

Mr Handley said he will donate the $100,000 he received for the termination of his contract to the funding of digital innovation projects. End quote.

Derek Handley might be a goose, but no one deserves to be treated the way he has. On thing is clear, he is not happy and decided to rain on Cindy’s parade. Instead of gushy news articles she is now being hounded about her truthiness.

But with all these emails and texts being dumped…. we should now call Derek Handley “RawSnark”.

The rough sequence of events looks something like this:

• Derek Handley tells his mate Jacinda Ardern he wants the position.
• Ardern sends Handley her private email address for further “private” discussion.
• Government cancels first recruitment round under direction of Ardern who has found the candidate she wants.
• Handley given clear and easy run for job.
• Handley gets offered the job and accepts verbally.
• Curran busted by the MSM for her part in the process, including the secret meetings and communications.
• Ardern covers for Curran & goes soft on her, only partially sacking her. In return Curran keeps Ardern’s part in the whole mess a secret.
• Curran eventually becomes the sacrificial lamb and resigns after she has little other option.
• Ardern lies in parliament about her dealings with Handley.

One wonders what he will dump tomorrow. One thing is certain this whole debacle lurches on for another week and now embroils the prime minister.

[rdytdy 5,341]

2 hours ago, tripple alliance said:

This lot goes from bad to worse , Cindy playing with the baby at the UN , there she is dangling it about for all to see while attending some peace summit , she has no problem using her child as a political prop ,  some would say a form of child abuse . On a positive but deceptive note she announced a $300 million spend on the climate scam in the pacific but it turns out this was just a redistribution of money already committed . Drugs , why won't she sign/support Trumps  war on drugs document , 130 other country's have , is this because we want to lower prisoner numbers so arresting drug crims wouldn't help that cause or is this a deal with the greens who want a soft approach to crims and damaging drug abuse , (40 dead so far this year) , I wonder how this fits with next years ''wellbeing budget'' and last but not least cindys oil and gas exploration ban , Official advice on the impact of the decision from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) warns the decision will be financially costly. Officials estimated the fiscal impact from lost revenues between 2027 and 2050 would be a hit of $7.9 billion on a net present value basis. .

And that's not the only cost , here's the latest Brent crude oil price , $81.44 the highest it's been for a very  long time ,  no wonder Aucklanders are feeling the pissed off , fuel up house prices down 4% (Barfoot and Thompson) , bye bye cindy .

Government’s economic treason laid bare

by CS

 

The government’s economic treason has been laid bare by officials. Quote:

Government officials have estimated that the cost to New Zealand of banning new offshore oil and gas exploration permits will be $7.9 billion between 2027 and 2050.

The advice is contained in a just released regulatory impact statement (RIS) by officials from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

It was previously known that officials opposed the move, but the estimated cost to the Government is new.

But Energy Minister Megan Woods contests the estimates. End quote.

 

Of course she does, Labour ministers know best. Quote:

Her statement on the bill, says the modelling by officials was based on a GNS report for inputs and the report itself expressed caution about relying on resource estimates, saying “this study attempts to qualify what is almost unquantifiable.”

Woods’ statement also said the model used for estimating the cost was unable to take into account any potential from existing exploration permits, covering 100,000 sq km. End quote.

No one is going to risk using those permits because in all likelihood the government would ban any fossil fuels found. This government has rooted an industry that took decades to build. Quote:

The new advice has been released alongside the Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Amendment Bill which gives effect to the ban announced in October by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Climate Change Minister James Shaw.

The ban in April took the industry by surprise because it was not part of any confidence and supply or coalition agreement and had not been explicitly promised by Labour during the election campaign.

However Ardern said it was an important step to address climate change.

She promised that the existing 31 permits covering an area of 100,000 square kms would be protected and said they could run as far out as 2030 could go an additional 40 years. End quote.

This decision is nothing short of economic treason, in particular throwing Taranaki under the bus. The costs will be more than that though as key skills are lost offshore. The exit is already underway.

They had no advice, no reports and no facts, they just did it anyway.