Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, November 16th, 2011 - 80 comments
Most politicians crave attention, especially when they’re trying to win an electorate. Not so National’s Paul Goldsmith! A Standard reader snapped these pictures of Goldsmith removing (apparently “unofficial”) Goldsmith electoral signs. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want to get elected!
Written By: - Date published: 9:08 am, November 16th, 2011 - 65 comments
The teapot tapes story (seems that’s the name that’s been settled on, despite the story involving neither teapots nor tapes) has evolved two distinct strands: the contents of the Key-Banks conversation, which is gradually coming out through the media, and the very aggressive, poorly conceived response of National which is making it worse for them.
Update: According to Fairfax reporter Danya Levy on Twitter, Key has just “stormed out” of a press conference after further questioning on the tapes. He’s losing it. Now The Herald has the story.
Written By: - Date published: 7:07 am, November 16th, 2011 - 116 comments
Winston Peters is suggesting that in the transcript of the PM’s meeting with Banks, John Key made some derogatory remarks about the older New Zealanders that tend to support New Zealand First, along the lines of “not to worry [about Winston’s support] they’re dying off”. Slagging off older New Zealanders (ie. the ones that always vote) is a sure way to lose an election.
Could Key really be so clueless? Well yes, when you look at the excuses he’s trotting out – probably.
Written By: - Date published: 10:22 pm, November 15th, 2011 - 23 comments
Key has now officially The National Party Preservation Society to try to kill off MMP. As I predicted in June, Farrar has now come out in support, attacking political scientist John Johansson for saying Key’s decision to speak out against MMP smells of partisan greed and hubris. It does; it was the tactic all along.
Written By: - Date published: 8:22 pm, November 15th, 2011 - 111 comments
Well it’s been quite the day of ironic Key hypocrisy lolz.
It’s also been a day that’s shown Russel Norman’s not much better.
Written By: - Date published: 12:26 pm, November 15th, 2011 - 7 comments
Key is avoiding the hard questions, but his photo-op face is everywhere. The rest of the Nats are working hard at being invisible. Let’s bring a little sunlight into that darkness!
Today’s InvisiNat is Gerry Brownlee.
Written By: - Date published: 10:11 am, November 15th, 2011 - 9 comments
120 ‘policies’ and only 1 of them new. That’s National’s economic development “action plan“. It looks superficially impressive at first: 120 points – what a busy government. But then you read, and it’s all stuff that’s underway or already announced, or in some cases Labour policies that are already complete. This is a (bad) PR exercise, not a plan.
Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, November 15th, 2011 - 26 comments
John: “I hear you might be able to get your hands on something to get me through the Election?”
Written By: - Date published: 8:44 pm, November 14th, 2011 - 102 comments
The tea tape didn’t interest me at first. Nats’ reaction seemed over the top but would Key and Banks be so stupid to discuss anything sensitive in a public cafe metres from the press mob? But then Key went to the cops. This said the Nats were really worried. It can only be something that cuts to the heart of Brand Key’s greatest weakness: Key’s honesty.
Written By: - Date published: 1:02 pm, November 14th, 2011 - 17 comments
Key is avoiding the hard questions, but his photo-op face is everywhere. The rest of the Nats are working hard at being invisible. Let’s bring a little sunlight into that darkness!
Today’s InvisiNat is Bill English.
Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, November 14th, 2011 - 39 comments
New Zealand has drifted under National for 3 years. They came to power with a plan they developed years earlier at the peak of the good times: cut taxes, sell assets, build roads. They haven’t altered that plan despite the weakest ‘recovery’ in history, no jobs, record borrowing, and the dark clouds on the economic horizon. Rod Oram fillets them
Written By: - Date published: 9:42 am, November 14th, 2011 - 15 comments
Labour’s fisheries policy will phase-in a requirement for fishing vessels to be at least 50% Kiwi-crewed and at least 50% of processing would have to occur here. Good start. It’s our fish – it should be harvested sustainably to create Kiwi jobs with fair pay and adequate conditions. The shame of slave fishing has to be ended.
Written By: - Date published: 8:59 am, November 14th, 2011 - 66 comments
Oh to be an Epsom voter – what an enviable menu of options you have. A National candidate who cares so much about the electorate that he goes to extraordinary lengths to discourage people from voting for him, or a racist former National politician soundly rejected by all of Auckland after a dismal ‘Supercity’ mayoralty who’s actively campaigning to undermine his own racist former National politician party leader.
What a shonkey farce!
Written By: - Date published: 7:38 am, November 14th, 2011 - 4 comments
Wave goodbye to higher taxes. Not your loved ones.
Choose a Brighter Future. Derp de derp.
This is what John Key was promising last election – before he came to power, raised GST, and record numbers of kiwis left New Zealand permanently for a brighter future in Australia.
Written By: - Date published: 6:29 am, November 14th, 2011 - 67 comments
Labour’s David Cunliffe put out a press release judging National’s proposed asset sales programme by the 5 tests that Key laid down in an effort to reassure us that sales would only go ahead if they made sense and were good for the country. Cunliffe’s analysis shows asset sales clearly fail the Nats’ own tests. The only reason to go ahead is blind ideology.
Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, November 13th, 2011 - 176 comments
So, John Key and John Banks have a meeting in a cafe, full of members of the public. They get the photo-op, then usher the media out. A HoS cameraman accidentally leaves his audio recorder. Key and Banks talk. In public. Anyone in the cafe could hear. The recorder gets the conversation. Key bullies the HoS into not printing it. The HoS caves. Disgraceful.
Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, November 12th, 2011 - 15 comments
Well, that was a let down. The much-hyped ‘cup of tea’ climaxed in Key saying that he would be voting for Goldsmith but he “wouldn’t be unhappy” if other Epsom voters back Banks. A double negative? Hardly a ringing endorsement. I think it’s too little, too late, for a man and a party that are too unpopular. All Key has done is tie his brand to extremists.
Written By: - Date published: 8:52 am, November 12th, 2011 - 72 comments
David Farrar is encouraging his readers to put themselves in harm’s way by authorising and distributing a misleading election advertisement he’s created.
Of course he won’t take the risk himself – instead he’s hiding behind “personal opinion”.
Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, November 12th, 2011 - 137 comments
Brand Key is now tied to John Banks. Interesting decision, could backfire – most of us don’t want Banks, Brash, or ACT back. Here’s a sample of why…
Written By: - Date published: 4:34 pm, November 11th, 2011 - 46 comments
So the meeting has taken place, and Epsom has been asked to hold its nose and vote for failed Nat retread John Banks, and with him on his coat tails failed Nat retread Don Brash. Nice one. In other news, Winston Peters is riding a boost in the polls all the way to the televised minor parties leaders’ debate. The Nats will be spitting.
Written By: - Date published: 12:11 pm, November 11th, 2011 - 21 comments
When people say ‘there’s no difference between the two big parties’ or ‘where are the policies’, it’s shorthand for ‘I haven’t been paying attention’. We had a great example of the contrast yesterday. National would subsidise expansion of dairy by selling our assets; Labour would get modern equipment to poor schoolkids by cutting sports subsidies to rich schools.
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, November 11th, 2011 - 34 comments
hattip: the jackal
Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, November 11th, 2011 - 44 comments
Labour is down in two recent polls (albeit margin of error), but over all the news is good!
Written By: - Date published: 1:02 pm, November 10th, 2011 - 61 comments
Oh hell. My worst fears have been realized. John Key is a wereperson. He is morphing into an incantation of the countries biggest ever political disaster. And talking of other story lines from True Blood. John Banks has been wandering around with the decapitated head of Don Brash.
Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, November 10th, 2011 - 39 comments
John Banks says the brand he is campaigning for in Epsom is ‘Brand Key’, not ACT. Epsomites don’t want three-time loser Don Brash but it’s unavoidably true that a vote for Banks is a vote for Brash. This is leading to a further unattractive debacle as Banks tries to distance himself from his leader, who he’s trying to get into parliament.
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, November 9th, 2011 - 48 comments
National want it both ways. They’ve brought us economic recovery through their brilliance (we’ve just not felt it yet), but also the lack of a recovery is not their fault and is in fact why all the stats are so bad. Here’s a reminder of what they’ve said…
Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, November 9th, 2011 - 19 comments
The first of the CTU’s online election ads.
Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, November 8th, 2011 - 30 comments
Yes, that’s an actual quote [sans ‘serfs’] from David Farrar lying about his master John Key’s lies about not raising GST.
hattip: frank macskasy
Written By: - Date published: 3:03 pm, November 7th, 2011 - 113 comments
Interesting to see a high profile, popular celebrity come out and speak her mind on John Key. Nothing like calling a shovel a shovel…
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