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6:00 am, April 21st, 2026 - 15 comments
Categories: open mike -
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Open mike is your post.
For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.
The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Step up to the mike …
Jordan Williams of the Taxpayers Union sends out regular emails to supporters 🙂
His latest is titled, "I'm worried".
In it, he says,
“Last night, I was speaking to a supporter who called concerned about what is going on inside the National Party. I told him that I am too. After all, it's only the future of our country at stake!”
“Because the risk is obvious. There has not been a single mainstream poll in the last two years showing Chris Hipkins returning to power without relying on the Greens and Te Pāti Māori. And if Covid and the last Government's response taught us anything, it's that we cannot afford to go back to the 'money hose' economic management Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori are all offering.”
“ If we wait until the formal election period, it will almost certainly be too late. By then, the narrative is set, and the damage is done. New Zealand will lose.We can’t let that happen.”
He wants our money.
Remember those shysters I was talking about yesterday? We might need a few more …rails : )
Backs on tracks!
The economy was doing just fine at the end of the last government term (even in terms of inflation at the low end of internationally normal). It was also clear and obvious that the economy went off a cliff when Nationals unnecessary austerity drive kicked in, this also widened the deficit considerably at the time and pushed out all forecasts of the deficit closing. In summary, a lot of the countries economic state is self inflicted.
This indicates what Jordan is really saying here is that a government running the country in the interests of most of the country turns out to be quite popular and Williams doesn't like that the Labour government was doing it (as opposed to a National lead government not doing it which he prefers).
Is that the same tax payers unions that took covid support, ?
Sure is. They twine around the legs of Luxon & co. like vipers.
From Stuff:
"PM to skip normal pre-caucus press conference ahead of possible leadership vote
The prime minister's office has just indicated he will skip his normal pre-caucus standup with the media.
He will instead speak after the caucus has met. This is highly unusual."
(emphasis mine).
When you’re stressed there’s only so much saliva to mince those words.
Minced words with word-salad? Yuk.
Ob that was good. It would also be good if we could think up a menu to match our NZ political banquet over the next few months. From entree' to afters perhaps with a dimmer mint. And also a striped cocktail in the prescribed colours as a banner – where the colours lie on each other up the glass. Very showy and needing an experienced mixer – see on net, Cocktails layered or striped. Let's have some fun in these desperate times (think film Cabaret explained on Wikipedia!)
https://thestandard.nz/open-mike-21-04-2026/#comment-2060596
NAct austerity is choppier for ‘bottom feeders’ and ‘dropkicks’ than some (entitled) others.
What on spaceship Earth does Lux believe "the other side" will look like – arise, Sir Chris?
Luxon and his 'other side' reminds me of Gary Larson and his The Far Side. He has made zillions caricaturing various subjects that society takes seriously surprisingly. We are missing a good chance of making good cash here in NZ satirising ourselves. There are some good cartoonists here going wanting. Get them together facing our politicians and free-spending administrators all vying to be Ozymandias. They can fire some epithets; maybe we can eventually plug the economic downdrain. If we can't beat the right, let's lampoon them with a cart full of cartoons.
Spin-professor Claire Robinson writes with a double-dose of irony & satire:
https://www.clairerobinson.nz/blogs/shed-the-ceo-become-the-prime-minister [HT to Richard Harman’s Politik blog]
I can see a few issues with this suggestion. Luxon is an über-confident CEO who used to manage an airline and who doesn’t take feedback (nor advice, presumably), allegedly. So, the idea that somebody would tutor him (he’s already got John Key mentoring him, allegedly), and take him by the hand is far-fetched, IMO.
Another issue is that National doesn’t have a coherent plan or vision. End. Of.
The National Party is indeed a management consultancy and it does have a big budget. Yet, it cannot manage itself, the Coalition, nor the economy. At best, it can delegate meaningless reports & reviews, drive short-term and destructive cost-cutting re-structuring, and point to other management consultancies that have performed even worse in the past, allegedly.
Apparently, Luxon survived a leadership vote, but National MPs don’t know whether it was unanimous (I doubt it) or what the margin was. Do they even know that there was a vote, without a whip telling them?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/592928/live-christopher-luxon-survives-national-leadership-vote-refuses-to-take-questions
Back to business as usual, can Nicola Willis please let us know when she sees things returning to normal? She forgot to tell us the answer to this burning question when she came back from Washington DC.
I have a friend who's suffering dreadfully so a hearty fuck you to the cookers.
Eric Feigl-Ding
@DrEricDing
We finally might have a reliable treatment for pancreatic cancer after all these decades. Usually survival is 13% at year 5–but those who took the mRNA vaccine & responded to drug—almost all still alive in year 6! However, RFK Jr just cancelled billions in mRNA research funding.
https://xcancel.com/DrEricDing/status/2046238239682400629