In three short years John Key and National have gone from economic bravado, to failure, to lies, excuses and whining. As the economy languishes they will have nothing to offer except more lies and excuses.
This is a time for fresh thinking, both globally and locally. But we won’t get it from National.
Trying to get my head around the economic arguments going on. Hearing contradictory things. Who’s telling the truth? ls Labour’s new overseas investment policy Stalinism that will ruin the economy, as Key claimed on Monday and Tuesday? Or is the same as the existing law, as Key claimed on Monday and Tuesday?
This post isn’t about National cutting education at every level, which will damage our country for decades to come. Nor is it about how they’re cutting cost-efficient preventative medicine to fund ‘sexy’ elective surgery. It’s not even about how they’re pouring billions into holiday highways in the era of peak oil. This is about the Cullen Fund.
The Sunday Star Times had an interesting piece quoting a National MP on growing discontent within the party. Discontent at the public perception of National as a “one man band”, and the way that the party has been reduced to “The John Key Show”. With National’s failure on the economy growing ever more evident, is the power of brand Key enough to carry the Nats to a win in 2011?
Yesterday, former National media trainer Paul Holmes and former National Party President Michelle Boag attempted an extraordinary hatchet job on Phil Goff on Q+A. No analysis of the real policy divide that Goff and Labour with National carved out at the national conference, just attack – why? The economy, policy, Key’s fading brand, and the polls.
So John Key was unusually forthcoming to a question this morning – he was very keen to give poor Kerry Prendergast a job.
Key knows how hard his government has made it to get a job, so he’s eager to help her out.
It was a year ago that Paula Bennett first declared victory over rising unemployment. Since then, John Key has been working his economic strategy hard: high-fiving every schoolgirl he can find, playing with spiders, announcing and re-annoucing literally tens of kilometres of cycleway, smiling and waving till it hurts. But dole numbers are rising.
New Zealand is small country, far from anywhere, always on the edge of irrelevance. To continue our proud heritage of principled and effective international contributions, to hold our heads up high on the world stage, New Zealand needs a leader. But all we have is a PM.
John Key has claimed that he doesn’t turn down many interview requests – but he turned down another one from Morning Report this morning. In fact you can count on one hand the number of times he has appeared on Morning Report in each of the last 2 years.
Here’s John Key this morning on Breakfast, talking about Paul Henry’s resignation. Naturally he’s eager to downplay the influence of Kiwi-Indian business and […]
Despite a slew of scandals, Key has not enforced any ethical or professional standards on his ministers (apart from Worth, for whatever he did). Ministers know that Key will keep his personal brand clean but won’t do anything to pull them into line. This has created a culture of impunity in the government, which has started to spread wider.
National Party pollster David Farrar must have seen bad numbers on the Mana by-election, he’s already making excuses. Apparently, Hekia Parata is a top candidate but it’s the voters’ fault – they’ll be confused by having two elections close together. It’s Farrar’s comment about Key, though, that is most revealing.
Had a crack at writing my kid a story. What do you reckon?
Once upon a time there was a little man called John Key. He told everyone that if they trusted him he would lead them to a brighter future. Some of the people said he was lying to get power. More people said that they liked that nice man, Mr Key, and wanted the brighter future he promised…
The just released Income Survey is more evidence of the Key Government’s failure to deliver for working Kiwis. After inflation, this is the third successive year in which the median income of New Zealanders has fallen. It’s now nearly 5% lower than when National came to power. This year alone, the median income fell 3.5%.
Paul Henry has a racist rant to the Prime Minister and what does John Key do? He laughs along and tries to make a joke. A PM that is afraid to be a leader. A Leader of the Opposition who is afraid of ticking off racists. A Green Party that is afraid of making a claim for the Left vote when Labour fails. Come back, Helen, all is forgiven.
Here’s some of the international coverage of New Zealand that Paul Henry’s racist outburst against our Governor General Anand Satyanand has sparked. In […]
Join the protests this evening outside TVNZ in both Auckland and Wellington calling for Paul Henry to be sacked.
AUCKLAND: 5pm, TVNZ HQ, 100 Victoria Street West
WELLINGTON: 5pm, TVNZ, 86 Lambton Quay
Remember how John Key used to talk about GST? Here is a video reminding everyone of the past before he did his usual flip-flop to favour the rich while increasing costs on most people. The GST increase and the consequent inflation will make almost everyone worse off unless they are wealthy enough to bribe the NACT’s.
“I also want to pay a special acknowledgement to my friend and deputy, Bill English. What a great job he is doing as Finance Minister. He’s delivered two Budgets that have steered New Zealand out of recession and put the economy firmly back on track to grow and create jobs”. Or has he?…
John Key says he supports the teachers and junior doctors’ claims for a pay rise ‘but we simply don’t have the money’. Yet Key who is borrowing half a billion dollars this year for tax cuts for the wealthiest 9%. It isn’t a question of what the government can afford. It’s who matters to National – the rich do, teachers and doctors don’t.
Thanks to all the other writers for excellent pieces on the serious issues. Time for a lighter subject. Fortunately, when you’ve got a […]
Stuff is reporting that Hone Harawira will not vote for the Nats’ foreshore and seabed legislation. And John Key is clearly upset. Sounds like someone needs the whambulance. Key’s just lost the ability to claim that he has genuinely circled the square, giving Pakeha and Maori both what they want. All he has really done is bought off the Maori Party leadership.
It’s been interesting to watch the Nats’ smear machine switch focus from Len Brown to Andrew Williams in recent days. I guess that’s what you get for letting Cameron Slater become your de facto chief strategist. Maybe the Nats have worked out that they’re not going to beat Brown. This article in the Herald certainly won’t help Banks one iota.
John Key promised higher standards of government. Another lie. The list of rorts, incompetences, and abuses of power goes on and on. So, it’s hardly any surprise that Key doesn’t have a problem with Maurice Williamson’s racist comments. Make no mistake – it is Key’s decision that Williamson and the rest are ministers in our government
Yesterday Mr Key said he would leave for London to visit the Queen, only if he “could be confident Christchurch’s recovery was on […]
Key says his personal relationship with Obama (met the guy twice) means he can call him. Don’t think it’s your winning grin mate. Think it’s because you’re PM of New Zealand. Anyway, this ain’t a game of collecting phone numbers, John. You’ve got to deliver something concrete. How’s that free trade deal coming?
Bill English came pretty close to admitting that the Nats are “relaxed” about our current high unemployment. Phil Goff came out swinging…
Yesterday, Key was boasting that his goverment had brought down robberies and burglaries in Manukau. But it’s just more numbers games. In reality, the crime rate in Counties Manukau rose 6.9% in 2009. That’s twice the already awful 3.5% nationwide increase. I’m not against the government saying it has brought down crime. I just wish that it was true.
It is time we got away from Mr Key’s focus on individual greed and got back to a focus on better hospital, schools and care for those who are struggling. David Clark argues that Key’s tax cuts are going to actually drive away our high-achievers while Mr Key is telling us it’s going to bring them home.
Prime Minister John Key has credited his government’s economic policies for the price of fruit and vegetables falling by 6.5%. It’s clearly because of all those fruit and vegetable price reduction policies the government has introduced. In fact, the fruit price index is really only down 3.9% since November 2008 and vegetables are actually up 14.4%. But who are you going to believe?
