Gerard Otto Facebook: Nikki Kaye tied to Woodhouse and Boag

Gerard Otto

Nikki Kaye tied to Woodhouse and Boag

If you google “Stamford Plaza Woodhouse” you will find Woodhouse was the author of an article on Sunday 21 June 2020 which in the cache reads :

“Stamford Plaza residents were rightfully concerned to find out people were being quarantined at the hotel without their knowledge…”

If you click on the link – you will also find the National Party have made strenuous efforts to delete that article from their website.

“The Page you were looking for was not found” – is all that remains of that article today.

Why would they try to hide that article?

The same article can still be found on Voxy and the article draws attention to how Nikki Kaye hosted a meeting with residents.

“At a meeting today with the residents of Stamford Plaza, hosted by Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye, the anger and frustration the residents were feeling was apparent.”

So what?

Woodhouse was at that meeting.

On Friday 10 July 2020 Kathryn Ryan interviewed Michael Woodhouse about how he came to have private patient data sent to him by Michelle Boag and Woodhouse told Kathryn Ryan he was at a meeting at the Stamford Plaza when he received a text from Boag.

Boag had caught wind of the fact Woodhouse was handling the publicity about the issue and how do you think she found that out?

Nikki Kaye please step out of the shade and into the light.

What communications had Kay been having with Boag about this “information that may be useful”?

As you know, Boag and Nikki Kaye enjoy a close relationship and Boag stepped down from Nikki Kaye’s Campaign committee – on Wednesday 8th July – a day AFTER – she confessed to being the source behind Hamish Walker’s leak to three media organisations.

Asked why she did it – Boag said she was not going to get into that and that was a matter for Michael Heron QC.

Boag was still covering up and was also hanging on to her National Party membership.

The State Services Commission had published the Terms of Reference for Heron’s inquiry on Monday 6th July and this had set a fire under National.

The scope included these objectives :

1. ) what caused the incident;

2. ) whether any particular individual or individuals were responsible for the incident;

3. ) whether there is a risk of ongoing breaches or further exposure of the information.

After this information came out Woodhouse deleted his emails from Boag and Boag coughed up – but it took an extra day for Boag to resign from Nikki Kaye’s campaign committee.

Nikki Kaye took to twitter on Wednesday 8th July to clarify to Simon Wilson ( NZHerald ) that Michelle Boag was not her campaign chair – just on the committee.

But obviously by Thursday 9 July some members of the press had been tipped off about Woodhouse because they asked very specific questions of Todd Muller about Woodhouse and what Todd Muller knew and did.

Reporter: Was Michelle Boag a source for Michael Woodhouse? Have you spoken to him?

Muller: Ah no I look again I don’t really understand where you’re going with this.

Reporter: Have you checked with Woodhouse specifically whether he received that same information from Boag?

Muller: Ah no.

This was way too close for comfort and I wish I knew who that reporter was – but you can be sure – the press know more about all this than they have let on.

In fact Heather Du Plessis-Allan went to air and said she knew who the real source around Woodhouse really was, and it was not Boag …and don’t ask…and she went on to suggest Woodhouse was a good operator.

Who do you think that source was Nikki Kaye?

Kaye seems wrapped up in the centre of all things Boag – but also artfully absent all the way through the week until Boag was flushed.

Anyway back to Todd on Thursday being blindsided by the press who knew too much.

National freaked out behind the scenes on Thursday evening and Woodhouse and Boag were both set to work explaining and distancing themselves from everything – because now Todd had the press on his throat and he was lost at sea.

Predictably ….the very next morning both Boag and Woodhouse released press statements – because the game was up and they had to make it look like they were being honest.

Meanwhile Nikki Kaye prowled around the edges here and likely hoped her possible involvement in conversations between Boag and Woodhouse at the Stamford Plaza would not be in the scope of the Inquiry.

Just look at the kind of data Boag was sending out and saying might be of some use to people like Walker, Woodhouse and possibly Nikki Kaye…

On 3 July 2020, the New Zealand Herald stated that it had received “a spreadsheet with the names, date of births, age, location of isolation, location of quarantine of 19 of the most current active Covid-19 cases.”

Radio New Zealand reported on 4 July 2020 that it “has seen a document that includes the full names, addresses, age and the names of the hotel and one hospital the 18 have been quarantining in.” Other media channels have also reported having seen the information.

It’s time the press demanded Nikki Kaye state for the record exactly what communications she had with Boag and Woodhouse about any of this type of information in National’s campaign to undermine the Government’s efforts to keep New Zealand safe at managed isolation facilities.

So far National have drip fed the truth ONLY when they have been forced to.

Should Nikki Kaye state her involvement in all of these matters – or deny them categorically for the record?

I think Nikki Kaye needs to come forward and be 100% honest – especially given her knowledge about these matters is likely from 21 June onwards – given her proximity to Woodhouse and Boag at the Stamford Plaza.

Michael Heron QC is going to want to know whether there is a risk of ongoing breaches or further exposure of the information.

National know that.

Nikki Kaye tied to Woodhouse and Boag

G

Gerard Otto Facebook: Sir John says it best – when he says nothing at all as he appears on Paul Henrys Show “Refucking Paradise”

Gerard Otto

 

Sir John says it best – when he says nothing at all

Paul Henry Hope was far from hard hitting when his life long idol and BFF ( best friend forever ) – Sir John appeared on Refucking Paradise the other day.

Instead Paul pulled his bigoted, bullying head in – and assumed the manner of a very friendly bum licker.

He talked to Sir John like he was on a hot date.

Smooth soft tones…gentle love and romance …the sensitivity of a man lost in admiration so deep, that he might cum in his pants at any moment.

“Hello John.”

“Hello Paul”

The sycophantic saliva dripped off’s Paul’s drooling brown tongue as he greeted this wondrous human being.

Oooh, God he is so fine.

Paul gushed that Sir John was the “Chinese whisperer” and asked his fabulous hot date whether this Government was being far too cautious in a Global Pandemic?

“At the end of the day, achtually – they’ve told us about what we can’t do – but not what we can do” said Sir John like a hawk eyeing a bald squirrel.

“So you are saying they are being too cautious John?” – prompted Paul.

Which was the closest Paul got to probing the bottom of that remark.

Paul was really begging for a yes to make his show the centre of attention.

But Sir John was not going to let Paul lick his arse on the first date.

No, no, no.

Sir John played hard to get on this point.

Saying the Government was being too cautious just so NewsHub would have a headline – would later involve Sir John having to explain his comment with a load of details and examples.

Sir John simply would not be able to justify things.

No this conversation had to be kept vague and general.

So he avoided saying the Government had been too cautious.

The same effect could be achieved by unaccountable innuendo and let’s face it – that was the role Paul played by not digging into what Sir John was implying.

Too much scrutiny would reveal to the public that the Government are announcing new initiatives almost every other day during Alert Levels.

That was not Sir Johns intention – and neither was it Paul’s.

All sorts of details would have to be put on the table.

Like how all those financial packages were announced without waiting for Budget 2020.

You know – the loss carry back scheme, wage subsidies, rent increase freeze, 80% risk share with banks – etc etc etc.

Like the launch of 35 new employment centres and online tools to help the unemployed find a job – which Jacinda was talking about just last night.

Like the fact we know the RMA is being fast tracked by David Parker because he told the Epidemic Response Committee that work is in rapid progress on this last week.

Like how Hunting was banned at level 4 but not at level 3 – you can hunt locally now, as well as swim, surf, drive to a beach in your region, fish off the shore, collect some fast food, buy freshly made coffee, slightly widen your bubble.

Like how Grant Robertson has told us that the previous budget responsibility rules are now waived – which means more than the initial $54 Billion is on it’s way to help us all.

Like how we know the government is meeting with heads of industry every day to figure out targeted relief.

Like how the public now knows real help is on it’s way to help businesses and landords with commercial leases – announced by Jacinda yesterday.

Like how 400,000 extra people can now go to work at level 3 – which means the New Zealand economy is operating at 75% of normal levels.

75% of can do – versus 25% of cannot do.

“Instead of waiting till the end of Level 3, I just think the Government should be waking up every day and thinking what more could we do.” – said Sir John.

Uninformed viewers looked at each other and said ..

“He’s right you know”

Which was really the point of the whole love fest between Paul and Sir John.

It was not Paul’s job to challenge Sir John on his “hard hitting” show.

It was about Refucking Paradise.

It’s Paul’s job to agree with everything Sir John says, to bow low before the God’s of money, to worship elite Bankers and to blindly cuddle, lick and fawn over every panty wetting word.

Oh Paul wriggled in his seat, his knees clenched tight together.

With an absence of facts, an absence of detail, an absence of challenging the opinions of past politicians – the public could be persuaded that Sir John ( The Chinese Whisperer ) was actually pointing at something very sleepy going on with Jacinda’s Government.

Paul never did ask Sir John to clarify whether Level 3 should just unravel on a daily basis and how that should relate to scientific advice about risking a return to Level 4.

No – where is the sexy fun in that?

Who needs science and pesky public health experts?

Not National – nor it’s fans.

Instead after a good bum licking – Paul concluded that fair points had been made by Sir John.

It was implied this Government really was asleep at the wheel – waiting around for level 3 to finish – doing nothing in between.

Viewers were left thinking there really should not be any restrictions at all – on what we can do during a global pandemic.

But informed citizens knew better.

They knew National are on the rocks, the Government has never had so much support, Public Health matters, Paul’s show is shit, and Sir John can’t actually get into the details of what he is talking about.

The smile on his face let’s us know he’s pretending

The touch of Paul’s hand says he’s still a good friend

When National should fall…

Sir John says it best – when he says nothing at all

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: Partisan National Media in Self Isolation for years

Gerard Otto

I woke up this morning to hear a disturbing sound.

The jingle jangle of modern NZ media suggesting we blame Ashley for shit he could not do anything about – when Media had not raised the alarm themselves for years.

Can you recall Media like Stuff or NZME putting the issue of New Zealand’s EPIDEMIC CONTACT TRACING capability on page one at any time during the past decade?

“You’d better think” said Aretha

“You’d better think about the consequences of your actions”.

The Media are supposed to hold Governments to account – according to themselves ( snigger ) – but I’d bet four fried chickens and a coke – nobody can find any evidence of Media doing their fucking job on this point.

Instead they want to blame Ash.

The guy shouldering the effort to protect us all.

I hate Illinois Nazis.

But I hate a lazy media as well.

They have filthy mouths and bad attitudes.

Stuff wrote today how we should not be afraid to ask questions about Ashely’s performance when Stuff were themselves “back in five minutes” all through January and February.

How about not being afraid to ask Media about their own performance?

It’s only THIS week that Media have gotten around to raising issues that have been sitting in the corner for years.

Begging to be highlighted by a media that actually gets out from behind it’s 24 hour news cycle keyboard.

Yesterday Grant Robertson raised the point to the bespectacled ferret Goldsmith – that he would struggle to recall fighting for more contact tracing capability back in 2016.

Yes National, what did you do about it?

Crickets.

Infometrics told us National cut $1.7 Billion from the Health Budget between 2010 and July 2015.

“How often does the media train run by here?”

“So often you won’t even notice it”

That’s the other problem.

If it’s not a scandal it’s not a headline.

Professor Skegg told Simon Bridges he’d written a book about how successive governments have ignored Public Health concerns – trading them off – like economists do.

Fix the cigarette lighter.

Nobody in the media has gotten around to highlighting the issues in Professor Skegg’s book – even now.

Instead Simon Bridges has quarantined long term Public Health issues and focused solely upon the time it has taken to respond urgently to a situation National is partially responsible for.

Yesterday Bridges ( the most isolated figure in NZ politics ) told media his bogus petition garnered 50,000 so he is not worried about how 24,000 furious kiwis think he is a cock.

A petition pleading for policy already in action.

Bridge’s is hardly on a mission from God.

You can’t lie to the Penguin.

Yet again nobody in the Media said to Bridges :

“You miserable slug! You think you can talk your way out of this?”

Instead the folks at Newshub, Stuff and NZME did the usual job of leaving it up the public to decide – apart from Clare Trevett who had the good sense to write :

Comedians know they are in trouble when they find themselves explaining their punch lines.

Media should remember the situation Ash has been dropped into and how we’ve all been lucky to have such a great dude doing whatever it takes to get us through this.

There are 106 miles to Elimination, we have a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark and we’re wearing sunglasses.

Now is not the time for a lazy media to lash out at the driver.

Instead they should take a good look at themselves.

Media in Self Isolation for years

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: Jobs vs Lives The dichtonomy Labour- Kiwi lives take precedence versus National- jobs and business are more important your choice Election 2020

Gerard Otto

 

Jobs versus Lives

Even while the South Korean CDC reported two days ago that 51 patients recovered from the coronavirus, tested negative, then positive again within a relatively short time – money was all some people cared about in New Zealand.

Was this a case of 51 false negatives – or did this virus REACTIVATE?

If so – what does that mean for all the money men stirring the pot around about now – how some small businesses will fail soon unless we hurry back and start coughing on each other?

Reactivation – will mean this thing goes on longer – and don’t forget there is still potentially 14% of cases in new Zealand that are still under investigation – which could be counted as community transmission.

Unless all of this is very well understood in 9 days time – odds are we’ll be staying in lockdown for a further 14 days.

And that will cause some shit to go down with the money men who do not buy this medical expert opinion stuff anymore.

Howling, moaning, weeping and wailing about money will start to be amplified by Newshub, Newscrap ZB, the NZ Herald, TVNZ and of course Sean Plunkett – as National gather it all up and accuse the Government of destroying our economy unnecessarily.

They wouldn’t do that?

National have just pulled off a blatantly political stunt in broad daylight with their bogus petition AFTER knowing full well – mandatory quarantine was already planned by the Government.

These people have brass necks.

Now the National Party are focusing upon the 20th April – when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will show her hand and most likely announce Lockdown will continue for a short while longer for solid reasons to do with unknowns, uncertainty and be not risking fucking things up.

“An absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”

That’s the line – and PM Ardern will hold that line and defend it against greedy political fuckwits who are already practising their howls.

We will require another two weeks to complete all the necessary testing to seal this sucker off and run it down into the ground, and know for sure about matters like “Reactivation” and “Community Transmission”.

On the 21st March, Sam Stubbs wrote :

“..Facts don’t often get in the way of a good panic..”

Which is a two edge sword about panicking to get back to work OR panicking to go hard and early to prevent deaths.

Economic facts are tied up with medical facts in the days we now live in.

Medical facts suggest once you are dead you will not recover.

Economic facts suggest we recover from recessions and even depressions, but at the cost of great suffering.

Sam was saying the worst case economic scenario may not necessarily happen and we should be careful not to “talk down” the economy – two days before NZ went into Level 2.

Today – Sam is saying :

“Perhaps a decision to move into Level 2 or 3, sooner rather than later, may be what’s necessary to keep both Covid-19 under control and the economy alive.”

Which all boiled down to Sam worrying about public opinion and the fact Winter is coming.

Where have I heard all this before?

The truth is – you know nothing Jon Snow – and neither does Sam.

Which is why for the sake of another two weeks of Lockdown – most intelligent Kiwis will support a decision by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to finish what we started based on scientific evidence and the best medical advice.

Looking around at the record death rate in New York yesterday, the downplaying of Covid-19 by Trump in the early days – and the plight of Sweden now after talking about protecting their economy…and ignoring medical facts…

I know who I trust.

And it’s not the greedy Lannisters.

Jobs versus Lives

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: Sticky the stick Insect lashes out (#aka Ova Tova)

Gerard Otto

 

Sticky the stick Insect lashes out

Simon Bridges was in a world of bother today as some of the press finally got around to noticing – that he was driving up and down the North Island – when he could have stayed at home and used Zoom to do his job.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a room full of journalists that it was not up to her to tell the Leader of the Opposition how to run his operations – but it was obvious Simon was being a total pillock and risking front line services having to rescue him if he had an accident.

“Eye wool do what eva eye want to cos eye is impotent” – said Mr Bridges earlier today as he flipped the proverbial bird at the nation once again.

“Important – not impotent” – remarked a kid who could read.

“Dat’s wot eye said” – reckoned Simon.

Suddenly what looked like a knobbly dry stick – bent forward in it’s dry knobbly seat and asked in a dry knobbly tone …

“Will you be asking David Clark to resign …”

Everyone in the room groaned and said For Fucks Sake – under their breath.

Sticky the stick insect – otherwise known as Tova O’Biased – had been chewing her bark off, obsessing day and night about David Clark for at least 5 straight days now.

“What a fucking lecherous mole, wasting the time of the PM in a pandemic like that”, murmured decent citizens all up and down the nation.

The PM explained how David Clark was a very competent minister and how she would be doing no such bullshit thing just so Sticky could write her dumb partisan story and drag shit on for almost a week.

But sticky the stick insect would not pipe down.

On and on she bitched and moaned about apologies being needed by hospital workers, and the PM cut her off like a chainsaw cutting through … a stick.

Would Newshub run the story about Simon Bridges for five straight days – like they had about David Clark?

Of course not.

All Nat based media had turned a blind eye when David Bennett urged kiwis to panic buy – and now Simon Bridges had once again proven he was a dinosaur using a laptop and preferred to waste Limo fuel ….there would be no 5 day campaign in the media to nail his sausage roll to the wall.

Nope.

The dire bias of New Zealand’s mainstream media was required to prop up a hopeless shambles of a National Party who were a dog’s breakfast right now.

Sticky the stick insect stalked off to lampoon David Clark for the sixth day in a row …while the rest of the nation sighed a collective sigh and moved on – knowing they could never expect an even playing field from these media assholes.

And they wonder why – they are going broke.

Sticky the stick Insect lashes out

G 

Gerard Otto Facebook: What do National voters vote for? Lets go back to nine years of neglect mismanagement and corruption they say

Gerard Otto

MBovis – they opened the gates
OECD record breaking homelessness
Cold damp classrooms for kids
Big parties at $10,000 a pop for an invite
Tiny surpluses at the expense of ACC
Deficits for six years in a row
Petrol taxes
Super expensive motorways we can’t afford
Shit pay for teachers and nurses
Shit running down hospital walls
Being at the centre of global tax evasion scandals
Dirty politics on the 9th floor
Booting innocent housing tenants onto the street
Refusing to seek scientific advice about meth contamination
Making backhanders with crony mates
Deleting 450 texts
Bashing down doors at 3am – stroke force raptor – rah!!!
Not taxing multinationals
Drilling around nearly extinct dolphins
Cold pensioners in Winter
Rising electricity costs
Foreign donations split up to look legal
Miserable minimum wage increases
Removing workers rights
More beggars on the street
Cold damp flats
Drilling for fossil fuels forever
Not attending Waitangi Day
Cracking down on protests with violence
Scandals, leaks and gossip
Widening wealth inequality
Poisoning rivers, lakes and streams
Plastic shit everywhere
Forgetting what they did when caught
Getting drunk in the changing rooms
Paying for US TV coverage
Sending other people’s kids to war
Saying Pike River mine is too unsafe
Doing way less on Climate Change
Pulling pony tails
Making light of that – when the victim complains
Dishing out Knighthoods to themselves
Tax cuts for the rich at election time
GST rises for the poor after promising not to
Being 70,000 houses behind their supply targets
Unaffordable houses – fuck the first home buyer
Racist school curriculums
Underinvesting in the regions
Killing off rail
Appointing old mates to run the GCSB
Cutting foreign aid to our neighbours
Ripping up conservation land
Forgetting about fuel pipe lines to the airport
Promising 10 bridges in Northland
Vile hateful texts while having affairs
Going to ground when the heat is on
Fake news and how it can be exploited to win
Attack ads that are dishonest
Refusing to even measure poverty
Lying about 11.7 Billion dollar holes
Borrowing $70 Billion
Refusing to invest in the super fund
Turning a blind eye to tax avoidance
Covering up bullying reports
Unlimited Immigration
House price inflation
Weak capital reserves in banks
Selling our water as fast as possible
Selling our land as fast as possible
Installing foreign spies
A bent and crooked opinion based press
No public broadcasting
A meaner, more disgusting New Zealand

What do National voters vote for?

G 

Gerard Otto Facebook: The self interest of the NZH and National MPs who own multiple properties who object to a CGT

Steve West shared a post.

3 hrs · 

The fact 75% of National MPs have investment property and vow to repeal any CGT is not self interest according to the NZ Herald.

Gerard Otto

28 February at 09:20

The self interest of the NZ Herald

Who pays the NZ Herald? Advertisers and subscribers.

While its free online reach has grown, the circulation of the country’s biggest paper, NZME’s New Zealand Herald, has been tracking steadily downwards for years, falling in 2016 from 134,000 papers a day to 127,000.

It now offers subscriptions for $1 a day and “premium content” ( lol ) will retreat behind a paywall soon in order to rescue the bleeding business model.

The demographics of the NZ Herald’s shrinking audience is well known to both the marketing and sales departments within NZME and it is careful to point out that it does not necessary agree with everything it publishes.

The demographics of the audience are also well known to the NZ Herald’s advertisers.

But let’s face it – it’s always been a conservative audience made up of get ahead empty nesters and self congratulatory recent retirees.

This is why the NZ Herald political page was covered with anti-CGT headlines yesterday.

The content feeds the prevailing opinions and prejudices of the known audience.

That’s how you keep them.

Plus the content is frequently also aligned with the prevailing views of major advertisers as well ( but not always ) especially when the vast majority of business decision makers vote National.

Neutrality is trumped by the bias of commercial imperatives.

Mike Hosking and Barry Soper ripped their spleens about how if every recommendation in the TWG report was not adopted by cabinet then it’s just not fair and a sign of bungling weakness by a naive government.

This was clearly preposterous.

No working group ever expects every one of it’s recommendations to be adopted and it is standard operating procedure in New Zealand law making that only some portion of the range of options are adopted by ANY government.

For example Judith Collins decided NOT to adopt the recommendation from the Electoral Commission to lower the MMP threshold from 5% to 4% whilst adopting other recommendations made by the commission.

This is normal and you don’t find Mike Hosking and Barry Soper ringing the bells about these matters unless it’s an issue that matters to the prevailing demographics of the audience or to advertisers.

The infection of self interest is not in dispute.

Constituencies matter including dwindling revenue streams for newspapers.

Bryce Edward’s “roundup” role is to reinforce conservative views because repetition with reach is the formula for shifting public opinion.

Top of Bryce Edwards reinforcement article today was the views of Hosking and Soper – along with Guy Espiner who had also fretted about watering down the proposed CGT to one that only focuses upon property investments.

This is all standard propaganda, feeding an audience with the prevailing perspectives it wants to hear.

Jacinda cannot walk the talk is the sound bite.

Ironically the NZ Herald Editorial today is all about how self interest plays no part at all in the decisions made by MPs when falling into their respective party political camps.

The fact 75% of National MPs have investment property and vow to repeal any CGT is not self interest according to the NZ Herald.

Their reasoning is that a poll suggested a majority of New Zealanders were opposed to a CGT in a polling period well before 20 February 2019 and because only 20% of the population own 80% of the assets that would be taxed – this clearly shows the public is not self interested but principled instead.

The weakness in this argument is that the Newshub/Reid Research poll they refer to was conducted before the release of the TWG final report to the public on 21 February 2019 and it’s not until 21 April 2019 ( approx ) that cabinet will decide what recommendations to adopt or scrap.

54% were opposed but 14% of the respondents were unsure in that poll – so there’s a fair margin for swing here.

As the public forms a view about any specific proposal – those numbers are going to move around. Some of the NO votes might became YES etc.

It’s not until AFTER cabinet release it’s policy that the NZ Herald could reasonably argue who was in support of a policy involving a CGT.

The poll they should refer to is yet to come.

But self interest might tempt them to suggest such matters are already determined and fixed in stone to their shrinking revenue base right now.

The prevailing pattern in our media starts with a huge build up of speculation and waffle which rises to a crescendo before a cabinet decision making process takes place.

Media reports what other media have already reported and a helicopter of possibilities takes off and flies around while Judith and Simon and Amy get in front of cameras and Mike Hosking knows all the answers from his pulpit.

Then something entirely unexpected happens – and cabinet makes a sensible decision that gets one day of coverage before everyone rushes off to speculate on the next topic.

Right now the CGT Speculative Helicopter is buzzing over rooftops and swooping into households, offices and retirement villages.

However it will land eventually and when it does we’ll all have some facts to consider.

In the meantime self interest rules for the press who make hay out of frenzied ongoing speculation and for the National Party who are determined to repeal any CGT no matter what it is – no matter how unfair or fair.

That self interest is etched in folding paper, timber and mortar despite the rest of the world all evolving to a far more principled position in the 21st century.

The self interest of the NZ Herald

Morning

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: G News – the good news after the China rift beat-up After a week of factless ranting about our non existent catastrophic relationship breakdown with China now its CGT

Gerard Otto

6 hrs · 

G News – the good news

After a week of factless ranting about our non existent catastrophic relationship breakdown with China, the MSM suddenly dropped the topic and fucked off onto a new topic for the next weekly news cycle.

The good news is that after a week of gnawing angst from our MSM over baseless hype about New Zealand’s relationship with China – this pile of bunk was tossed into the rubbish bin and we moved on from that shit.

Hooray!!!

Not so good was that it was immediately replaced by feverish speculation about what parts of the recommendations from the Tax Working Group might stick and become legislation.

As if speculative spin will do any good two months before anything is decided.

Booo!!!

Utter morons suddenly became tax experts like Duncan Garner, Mark Richardson, Mike Hosking, Audrey Young, Simon Bridges, Gerry Brownlee and Paula Bennett.

Like a flock of fuckwits they all rushed to pen their opinions that the sky was falling, two months before the Coalition decided anything.

Boooo!!!

Rubbish I know, yes, it’s boring but still some of us ignored it completely.

Somewhere in Point Chev someone celebrated a birthday and staggered home, entirely oblivious to all of this shit – while the MSM fuckwits bleated frantically about the end of the world.

Hooray!!!

Notably every single fuckwit claimed the middle classes would be most effected while none of them referred to any hard statistical data to support that bogus claim.

Boooo!!!

The vast majority of the extra tax would come from the wealthiest 20 per cent of Kiwis, who own more than 80 per cent of the assets that would be newly taxed.

Hooray!!!

The reason National have to lie about how a CGT will mostly impact the middle classes is because they don’t have the numbers amongst the top 20%.

Hooray!!!

So they have to misinform New Zealand hard out.

Booo!!!

Even Michael Cullen said he reckoned this tax shit would end up being reduced down to just the property related tax and the business tax etc would be dismissed by Cabinet.

In which case Winston will be hailed a hero again.

Hooray!!!

In other news – Paula Bennett said she was worried about Taxi Drivers in Taranaki in 30 years time, after a bogus report paid for by BIG OIL was passed around the MSM as if it were the gospel truth.

Nobody believed Bennet gave a rats arse about Taxi Drivers and most people never even read the Big Oil report she was bullshitting on about.

Yet they still held opinions about it and that dreadful woman wanked on about how worried she was – after helping to decimate the Taxi Industry herself.

Thankfully the report was 100% bebunked because : it was crafted to leave out 30,000 new jobs that would be created by alternative energy industries, the report also ignored the 100,000 square kilometres of sea bed that is still be explored under existing permits and….and the report was based on another report that said – this is an attempt to quantify the almost unquantifiable.

Hooray!!!

Jacinda kicked Simon’s ass again about the Housing Waiting lists after she revealed National had removed Category C and D people off the list in 2010 to make it artificially look better.

The far more open and transparent Coalition put those categories back onto the list and it sprang back up to 2010 levels. ( over 10,000 )

Thousands of angry Nat Troll barked and foamed at the mouth over this with no fucking clue what had really happened.

I watched their ignorance and said nothing.

No headlines clarified the matter and most people did not even know about the issue.

Speaking of not knowing, a gathering of men at a “Men’s Night” in Sandringham grumbled about how Labour promised no new taxes , but not one of these men ( so smug, so knowing ) knew how they had been lied to about what was really promised and none of them could accept they were uninformed or too lazy to check what they heard.

Well maybe one of them could.

The MSM had shortened “No new taxes beyond those we have already committed to in our first term” down to “No new taxes”, but the men at the men’s night were all blissfully ignorant about this and comfortable in their misplaced outrage over this lying government.

This same microcosm of ignorance is repeated across large segments of New Zealand society.

Sometimes it is best to say nothing unless you know your facts.

Facts like none of us are Gerry Brownlee.

Hooray!!!

New Zealand beat Bangladesh in the cricket but nobody could say what that meant after India gave NZ a towelling in the first three ODIs.

You’ll have to wait till the World Cup to find out.

PM Ardern told the Aussie PM that Aussie deporting people who hardly lived here to NZ is corrosive to our relationship with them.

You can tell an Aussie , but you can’t tell em much!

Remember the underarm?

I’ve got to go make a coffee for the wife and make the bed.

G News – the good news

Morning

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ National and MSMs latest beat-up China relationship and trade tensions hysteria

Gerard Otto

3 hrs · 

The Emperor’s New Clothes

New Zealand’s exports of all goods and services to China were worth $16.6 billion for the year ended September 2018.

A year before then this was only $14.0 Billion.

Check that out – in one year of working with Winston Peters, Jacinda Ardern, David Parker and others – New Zealand exports to China have grown by a massive $2.6 Billion.

Shit yes.

That is a phenomenal amount of growth in our exports under the Coalition Government.

That extra $2.6 Billion in export growth to China has ALSO occurred during the Pacific Reset – which was announced in early March 2018.

Which can only mean it does not fucking matter what speeches about “asymmetrical power in the South Pacific” are made by Winston.

None of that impacted our rapid growth in exports to China.

Instead they grew by $7,123,000 per day.

Wow that’s a great deal of growth but while it’s growing away like the clappers our media are writing headlines with these words in them :

“We have a big problem with China.”

The media are running around like chooks about a delegation who cancelled a visit to an event, a few rumours about tourists cancelling trips, speculation there might be an issue for exports, and a plane trip that was turned around due to an administrative error.

Yes apparently while we are experiencing record export growth with China and not one dollar of trade has been refused nor one kilo of milk powder stopped at any port – we have this huge problem all of a sudden.

So far the big problem involves media thinking we should have had a meeting by now.

Unless you have a meeting at the same times that John Key had his AND IN THE SAME LOCATION – well – there you are!!!

John Key said he took what the Chinese media had to say with a grain of salt after he endorsed the decision at the Hague to declare China’s rock hopping claims in the South China Sea to be illegal.

Yep – and at the time the media did not hop up and down claiming we had a big problem.

John went to China and our media relaxed.

Especially Barry Soper and other subject matter experts like Corin Dann ( LMAO ).

Funnily our exports to China dropped massively from $13.296 Billion in 2014 to only $11.125 Billion in 2015.

I’d say that was indicative of a relationship problem – despite meeting with the President in Beijing.

Hilariously this terrible drop was precisely at the same time when the same NZ media started to report we had a “rock star economy”!!!

Instead of wailing in unison that we had a problem with China while exports tumbled, the media and National supporters were triumphant.

Not so today.

Worried heads shake in fear.

The list of grave concerns is repeated at a surface level and passed along for instant comprehension and consumption.

Much is made of how Winston begged for US foreign aid in the South Pacific and pissed off China.

Yet none of the commentators can see that this is wholly appropriate at a time of American protectionism.

No not one of them, including professors at Victoria University.

There’s Trump pulling the plug on aid and funds for the likes of the UN and rattling sabres about better trade deals and the USA not paying so much – so of course New Zealand needs to make it’s case for a continuation of US aid and even more support from the USA in our region.

On top of this there’s been six coalition ministers visit China within the last year.

Yes six. Or was it five? Doesn’t matter.

That’s fairly active and busy.

David Parker met with his Chinese equivalent in November and had a right old chat about trade and that upgrade to our FTA.

November 2018 was not long ago really.

Last week China’s ambassador, Wu Xi, invited Winston to dinner where he and she talked about inside information.

Information that none of the media nor members of the New Zealand China Council are privy to. ( David Mahon, Fran O’Sullivan etc. )

But oh we have a BIG PROBLEM – apparently according to them.

As you know Air New Zealand admitted they made administrative errors but half the population are still out of the loop about that red herring.

Notably only after headlines claimed it was political and about our relationship with China.

PM Ardern has met both the President and the Premier of China since becoming PM but those meetings were not in Beijing.

Our media think it’s time the location of the meeting was stressed rather than actually having a meeting.

This is like the media in Fiji being pissed off until their PM has a meeting with ours in Wellington.

OMG I know!!!

Never mind the fact our PM visited their PM in Fiji or they met at trade talks.

Not enough hoopla.

That’s how our media are behaving towards China.

It’s a bit of reckless disregard for our exporters really – stirring up a hornet’s nest from perfectly booming trade.

The other fact is National would have done the same over 5G and Huawei.

The TICSA legislation that governs the GCSB in this area was after-all – passed by National.

Yes – so they can bugger off about their fake positioning about this.

If anything this week’s hype about our “big problems” with China is a study in who is politicised in our media.

I wonder who is paying some of these media hacks behind the scenes to dress up the narrative that our relationship with China is clad in problems?

Whoever that is – is keen to dethrone the New Zealand government and take control.

Desperate enough to harm our economy in the process!!

Now who fits that description?

Someone wearing blue.

The Emperor’s New Clothes

G 🙂 ( I’m not back, just had to say something this once )

Gerard Otto Facebook: The desperate and irrelevant Centre Right play catch-up after a year of ZERO new policy release and trivial petty wedge politics

Gerard Otto

2 hrs · 

The centre right play catch up

After a year of having nothing sensible nor comprehensive to say about what it would do differently – the centre right now expects it will have something to say later this year.

In August 2018 John Key said, “”If you look at what has driven a lot of New Zealand’s demand in the time I was Prime Minister from ‘08 to ’16, it was a significant increase in migration, a very strong housing market, a lot of confidence running around in the business community, what was very low interest rates, and over time globally a capacity for governments to spend a lot of money.”

Key went onto to say that most of the things that drove demand were now reducing.

Truth be told the Chinese GDP growth rate was reducing all through Key’s term – but whilst it was slowing down – it was still growing and still is.

The consequences of record migration pouring on top of a tax free inflating housing market are now obvious to two thirds of the population while we sit and wait for the Tax Working Group’s recommendations about rebalancing a “revenue neutral” tax system.

The centre left ( and others ) saw the consequences of growing homelessness years ago while Key stood there and said there was no housing crisis repeatedly.

New Zealand burst into first place in the OECD – when it came to homelessness – and housing affordability hit near historic lows.

Rome burned while Fran O’Sullivan fiddled how great Key was and what an amazing rolodex he had built up as he attended Davos for the first time.

Simon Bridges was asked what he would do differently from the Coalition at the same time Key made these comments – and after a long rambling mangled journey through the woods and across the sea – his reply boiled down to spending more on education, health and infrastructure ..and he threw in science and innovation as after thoughts.

In other words National had no specific idea nor direction at all and hid behind the excuse that it would be imprudent to reveal their hand too soon.

While National issued statements criticising working groups and costs – it also concluded that Labour must have been lazy in opposition.

Cheerleaders in the press nodded despite the fact MMP meant that manifesto policy work had to be negotiated, modified and transformed after the 2017 election – and that much of the detailed implementation could not be done properly in opposition because no opposition has access to the necessary resources.

Don’t even mention Royal Commissions of Inquiry and how none have ever happened based on the whims of an opposition party.

The public were fed a line by the centre right that it should ignore all of those realities as if they simply did not exist.

The centre right decided to peddle the notion that promises were broken after just a few months into a three year term.

This dishonesty was cynical and showed that the politicking from the centre right was well and truly now in a post truth era.

They were treating New Zealand as if it was stupid.

But there is evidence some of it is.

Budget 2018 was clothed in helpful clues that transformation takes years and not everything can be done in one budget – yet nearly every commentator wailed how that budget was not transformational enough.

A severe lack of patience and understanding about a longer term view emerged. The transformation would not be televised in one week according to it’s news cycle.

To the contrary Television got it’s nickers in a twist about two cancelled interviews when Jacinda went off and delivered a speech about the unified coalition high level 12 point plan.

The centre right moaned about trivia like who was in the audience while Jacinda delivered the high level plan saying – hold my beer :

Build a productive, sustainable and inclusive economy

• Grow & share New Zealand’s prosperity

• Deliver responsible governance with a broader measure of success

• Support thriving & sustainable regions

• Transition to a clean, green and carbon-neutral New Zealand

Improving the wellbeing of New Zealanders and their families

• Ensure everyone is earning, learning, caring or volunteering

• Support healthier, safer, & more connected communities

• Ensure everyone has a warm, dry home

• Make New Zealand the best place in the world to be a child

Providing new leadership by Government

• Deliver transparent, transformative and compassionate Government

• Build closer partnerships with Māori

• Value who we are as a country

• Create an international reputation we can be proud of

“This plan represents our shared vision and priorities; Labour, New Zealand First and the Greens. It establishes the foundation for the Government’s work and includes issues of particular importance to each of the parties which are supported by all of them, Ardern said.

Few in the media could get their heads around what a high level plan actually is versus a detailed implementation plan…but all of the 900 detailed work items in the coalition work programme would slot under the appropriate high level bullet point.

TVNZ gave the plan a begrudging one minute of head shaking coverage on a Sunday evening.

Simon Bridges rubbished it the next morning but had no plan himself.

Centre right commentators instead concerned themselves with wedge issues that did not exist – over things like refugee numbers and – the vastly important matter of Karel Sroubek.

That was the Centre Right and it’s vision.

National were awarded 8/10 by Tracy Watkins for this.

Now New Zealand only has to wait until mid 2019 until National start to talk about RMA reform and how it will speed up building houses or roads.

The idea is not new – it’s been around for years – and streamlining it involves balancing the conflicting forces between the environment and investors.

Small government means no regulations standing in the way of the bulldozers or oil drills and most of the centre right cherish this notion – that freedom is the freedom to plunder.

While PM Ardern attends Davos and makes her influential contributions about climate change, mental health and the wellbeing budget ( one that shows people matter not just money ) …the Centre Right will roll over in bed and sleep in again.

This is not the hardest working opposition – it’s a lost gravy train searching for legitimacy whilst still following the blind vision of yesterday’s mistakes.

The centre right play catch up

Morning

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: G versus Liam Hehaw (Hehir) National progandist

Gerard Otto

19 mins · 

G versus Liam Hehaw

Hehaw
It’s clear Jami-Lee Ross inflicted some damage on National. Quite how much is unclear.

G
Soyman’s on 7% and National are sliding around 37%.

HeHaw
Nevertheless, I doubt anybody within the party’s caucus would deny its armour has been dented by the fiasco.

G
They would read whatever script was given to them.

HeHaw
But assuming nothing else emerges, National seems ready to take the lessons on board and move on.

G
They were moving on as fast as they could – refusing to answer all questions.

HeHaw
For the most part, the media seems to have become aware of the dangerous territory its coverage was veering into.

G
The fact Soyman was conspiring with Pullya to hoodwink the media and …then there was the truth…you know …dangerous stuff …what was that disloyalty stuff all about? I suppose democracy is the loser if we never find out the facts.

HeHaw
The fact Parliament is in recess provides additional breathing space for Simon Bridges while the whole affair, he must hope, will continue to fade.

G
Oh it won’t – we have very long memories and so does Jami-Lee. It’s just a breather.

HeHaw
Parliamentary recesses are also, of course, an opportunity for Government ministers to seize the initiative and set the agenda with positive news.

G
Like 95 regional projects underway? Like those 68 new Kiwi build houses down in New Plymouth announced today? Then there is $30 Million being spent on State Highway 3 announced today as well. Yesterday we heard the government would spent $20 Million on a new health centre in Westport. We also heard about a 10 year plan to restore quality in early learning yesterday. Yes – such news is always happening – but frequently its a bit buried by scandal.

HeHaw
Announcements can be made in a question time-free environment. It’s kind of like a free hit in twenty20 cricket.

G
We’ve seen announcements most days by PM Ardern – whether parliament was happening or not – which is more than that past government did.

HeHaw
During the last National Government, for example, there was an expectation something significant would be announced at least every other day during a recess period. At least. It was something ministerial advisors built up to.

G
This is where you tell a big porky…go ahead…

HeHaw
Interestingly, it’s not something the Ardern ministry has been able to replicate.

G
Ha ha ha – the Ardern Ministry exceeded it – easily.

He-Haw
Probably the biggest news last week was Andrew Little confirming the Government would press on with its plans to re-enter the Pike River mine, which was sealed following that terrible explosion in 2010. All things being equal, it looks like re-entry will begin in February.

G
Before you go on – let’s look at the announcements made last week. 12 November announcements – 1. The Inquiry into the process that led to the appointment of a Deputy Commissioner of Police has found that the process was sound. 2. Royal Commission of Inquiry into State Abuse scope was expanded to include Churches. 13 November Announcements : 1. Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters officially opened New Zealand’s first resident embassy in Ireland at a ceremony in Dublin. 2. Minister of Housing and Urban Development Phil Twyford and Auckland Mayor Phil Goff announced a partnership that will fund $91 million of roading and wastewater infrastructure to support the building of 9000 homes at Wainui, north of Auckland. 3. NZ calls on Japan to stop Southern Whaling programme. 4. Former Governor-General and High Court Judge Dame Silvia Cartwright will lead the public inquiry into EQC. 5. The Government is pioneering a new approach to allow whānau and communities to flourish with an investment of $15 million towards whānau-led community housing developments. 6. The Minister of Māori Development, Hon Nanaia Mahuta announced 24 community-led housing repair projects will receive funding from the Māori Housing Network, totalling $5.8 million. 14th November announcements 1. The Pike River Mine Drift will be re-entered. 15th November announcements 1. NZ Women’s Rugby will host the World Cup in 2021. 2. A $40 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will enable KiwiRail to build a new regional freight hub near Palmerston North. 3. A $400,000 investment from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will be used to fund the first stage of an Advanced Aviation Hub at Whanganui Airport. 4. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced a Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) package for Manawatū-Whanganui of about $48 million. 5. An upgraded free trade agreement with Singapore will make it easier for New Zealanders to visit and do business in South East Asia. 16th November announcements 1. New Zealand and Australian Ministers for Foreign Affairs announced today a joint commitment to partner with Pacific Island countries to enhance our collective cyber resilience. 2. New Zealand, Chile and Canada today reaffirmed a commitment to work together to advance trade that benefits all their citizens. – – I missed out a few but you get the picture. Now some of these are significant and others less so – but they are all news and all happening at a frantic speed during recess.

HeHaw
This confirmation will be gratifying for many of the families of the deceased miners, of course. And it reaffirms a longstanding commitment to re-entry on the part of the Labour Party.

G
Plus NZ first and the Greens. It was the right thing to do old bean.

HeHaw
New details were also announced in relation to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the historic abuse of children. Its remit has been expanded to include religious institutions and the commission has been re-named accordingly. The timeframe for the inquiry, which looks to be the most expensive in our history, has also been extended to reflect that wider mandate.

G
What were the costs of all that abuse? How much potential did it stifle in New Zealand – and how expensive is healing and justice…if we wish to ALWAYS mention costs?

HeHaw
Nevertheless, the point at which announcing developments in reviews, reports and consultations could be touted as political achievements for this Government is well and truly in the rear-vision mirror.

G
No it’s actually a new development that cannot be found in a rear mirror. It’s now. It’s about getting things right along the way – same with anything planned really…like say 100,000 New houses in ten years…it’s okay to announce new housing developments as they happen.

HeHaw
Looking through the Government’s announcements, it looks like it has joined in on an international declaration on biodiversity, agreed upon a shared commitment with Australia for enhanced cyber-security in the Pacific and determined farmers are making more and better use of the National Animal Identification and Tracing Scheme. All very good and worthy things, of course. None of them, however, is the type of thing that penetrates the public consciousness or puts the opposition off-balance.

G
Well National did no such thing with every single announcement – if that is what you are claiming? Instead – each announcement is just informing us of the unfolding plan.

HeHaw
On the first anniversary of the Ardern ministry’s foundation, I did a radio interview on its achievements to date. One of the things I had to credit it with was its achievement of internal stability. Plenty of people had predicted that a Labour – NZ First – Greens Government was bound to fall apart. But while there have been a few wobbles from time to time, the arrangements are looking pretty rock-solid.

G
Despite constant headlines about potential wedges every single day – it was all utter nonsense and spin.

HeHaw
For all their stability, of course, rocks do not tend to be agile. If the coalition has managed to overcome its internal contradictions by resolving to concentrate on reviews and international meetings then it will present a rather slow-moving target for the Opposition.

G
Obviously the Opposition cannot even keep up with the number of announcements let alone understand how agile the coalition is. Here you are criticising it for updating the scope of an inquiry and saying that is not an announcement – when it is the very agility you cannot see. Blinkers off young HeHaw.

HeHaw
National enjoys few natural advantages over this government in an MMP environment.

G
They have yet to read the manual.

HeHaw
One tailwind it does enjoy, however, is that if you don’t count ACT, which few people seem to do these days, it is really the singular voice of opposition.

G
On 37% and shrinking.

HeHaw
That gives it a lot of freedom in crafting an alternative agenda while the Government is weighted down by the need for three-way agreement on anything significant.

G
It has not slowed the Coalition down at all. They made over 1070 decisions in year one – in smooth consensus. There is no evidence of the nonsense you are talking about.

HeHaw
On its own, policy rarely wins elections – and rightly so.

G
National don’t even have that.

HeHaw
If you’re going to square off against a popular leader and the head of a first-term Government, however, then the right alternative vision is essential.

G
They are listening for the next year they say.

HeHaw
National needs to set out an agenda that is simple, responsibly populist and, ideally, something Government parties can’t plausibly seek to replicate.

G
It’s called a BRIGHTER FUTURE lololol.

HeHaw
Seeing a Government limited in its ability to do much more than it is already doing, the temptation for National might be to try to steal a march on it now. That may be a mistake.

G
Oh they are sinking – sinking – sinking – why stop now.

HeHaw
The next election is still almost two years away and, its alternative vision being one of the few things it can control, National shouldn’t rush how it crafts it.

G
Ha ha ha yes – keep doing nothing.

HeHaw
The unco-ordinated nature of the governing troika isn’t going to change anytime soon.

G
Such cohesion and unity – what a marvellous team.

HeHaw
In the meantime, there is one other thing that National does control: internal discipline.

G
Does this involve spankings or is this about diets?

HeHaw
The recent troubles appear to have been non-fatal. MPs would be wise to ensure the party is not put to the test again.

G
You mean no more lying to manipulate the press? Or no more hanky panky when you are married? No more bullying? No more harassment? No more arse covering? No more deleted texts? No more refusing to answer questions? Or no more driving the limo to pointless meetings? Whatever you mean – I doubt it will make a spot of difference. This lot needs a total clean out. Too rotten down to the core – and we’ve got a world leading woman at the wheel instead.

G versus HeHaw

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: G the Good News- Cynical Seymour does a flipflop retains funding for free school lunches desperate to arrest ACTs freefall in the polls

David Seymour made out he was the saviour of school lunches after threatening to abolish them – until polling showed Act was in free fall. Seymour promptly flip flopped and now – although he’s removed some choice for schools – there’s going to be free school lunches and about 10,000 more for under five year olds.

David Seymour criticised “woke food” as he announced a revamp of the school lunches programme today.

Luxon hated being called to account as he was powerless to discipline his junior Coalition Partner who enjoyed wagging the egg.

So Luxon lashed out at the media like a bad parent punishing the messenger.

“It’s all the big questions from TVNZ today, isn’t it? Fantastic,” Luxon said in response to a question about whether there was such a thing as “woke food”.

“Wow what a brittle little eggshell” said an organic punga.

“What a nonce Seymour is too”, said a flax bush.

“I’ve gotta be straight up with you” warbled a majestical Tui before yelling “Yeah Right” and flying off to peck at Luxon’s dome.

“Luxon has started to lose his calm and appears agitated, irritated and on a losing streak as his own BS must be starting to crack his outer helium snorting exterior fake public mask.” said G from G News.

“He’s a slave to his emotions, and has lost himself”, said Monty lying on a cushion on the couch.

Gerry was a flapping sheet of incompetence blowing on the washing line of parliament today in question time. Once again Gerry had to go away and think about things he could not adjudicate – and once again Gerry failed to remember names as small birds tweeted in circles around his head singing Simple Simon met a Pieman.

The shocking circus bungles on as Gerry snaps at Green Party females and goes easy on Winston and his mates.

The suspected Ponsonby Road gunman was found dead on a property near Taupo and Police said the cause of death was not known.

NewsHub reported that “Robert Sidney Horne was killed while at a bar with a group of friends on Sunday night.The suspected gunman Killer Beez gang member Hone Kay-Selwyn, 31, was found dead in rural Taupō on Tuesday after police launched a manhunt.” – NewsHub.

Ngāti Toa led a hīkoi from the Wellington train station to Parliament this afternoon to make clear its opposition to the coalition’s fast-track bill. Dodgy time waster and sneaky Fast Track snuffler Chris Bishop said he would accept the challenge.

Of the $57, 000 Luxon splashed out on – his own office $15,000 was spent on the video conferencing equipment, with the remainder spent on IST equipment. Some of the IST equipment is yet to be installed and not all of it may be destined for the Prime Ministers office, but it was all charged on the same invoice, therefore the Gerry felt he should report the full amount in response to the written question. The carpet replacement in the office came in on top of this cost at $17,000 – this was necessary due to moving some shelves to make room in the space for the egg’s giant ego and propensity to play hallway cricket.

Nobody reading this is Gerry Brownlee !!!

Hooray !!!

Big Oil and Gas made it’s move using the winter to try and build a case to up Oil and Gas investment via the chosen one – Simeon Brown. Brown met stiff opposition from Labour and the Greens and TPM wanted to know answers that Brown never gave.

An urgent Waitangi Tribunal inquiry is under way into the Government’s decision to reinstate binding referendums on Māori Wards. The inquiry will be a speedy one, as the tribunal has only days to produce its recommendations before the Government intends to introduce legislation, on May 20.

A cold snap is on the way for Thursday and Friday across the country.

Some trivial news about Professor Duncan Webb making a wise crack over Seymour, hummus and Hamas fell a bit flat and he admitted it was a mistake with Chippy telling him that was not appropriate – no excuses – no “he’s doing an exceptional job” and no “we are working incredibly hard”.

Gotta dash and pick up Vicki at some birthday thing on the other side of the island.

Have a great evening.

G News – the good news

G

Gerard Otto Facebook: Luxon and Mitchell what a shite show

What a Shite Show

If Penny Simmonds or Melissa Lee had fronted the media with such little understanding of their own numbers in their portfolios, Christopher Luxon would eventually – at an opportune moment – have sacked them both in order to gain strength in the eyes of his support base. But this was a rich man in a suit, and so – there will be no sacking of Mark Mitchell.

No matter how bad Mitchell’s Mr Plod routine – a confidence game now shattered before the whole nation due to his egregious incompetence, he has special immunity from consequence – thanks to his gender and economic status ( A rich white man who messed up ) – plus Christopher Luxon would have to sack himself as well to be fair – breaking the time honoured elitist CEO convention that – my rules apply to everyone else not me.

Around May 6 2022 Poto Williams was put on trial by NZME media and TVNZ 1 News – for the sin of “not having read a tome of police statistics” compiled by National within a few hours of them handing it over to her.

TVNZ misquoted Poto and Luxon said she was lost at sea.

Claire Trevett and Audrey Young yearned for a new Minister of Police – someone more male and burly who fitted their stereotypical expectations – and headlines screamed for days – as a spike in RAM RAIDs and reports of drive by firings of guns in a South Auckland gang clash filled the airwaves.

There was no mercy for Poto – no matter how much she supported the Police with tools and equipment and stronger laws – and eventually thanks to media pressure, Dame Jacinda Ardern made an adjustment and Chippy stepped up into the role.

NZME had howled for Poto’s head – but today – Claire Trevett and Audrey Young, Thomas Coughlan and friends at the NZ Herald are all whistling dixie at the corners of the room and even swaggering out of the room as not a single headline is published about what New Zealand just witnessed from Luxon and Plod.

It’s this rotten stark partisan bias at the NZ Herald and NewsCrap ZB that helps to swing elections in New Zealand.

In summary Luxon and Mark Mitchell stepped up on the podium and read out spin that had been written for them – before attempting to brush off media questions and move on if things got too sticky – next question.

Problems occurred pretty fast, thanks to both Luxon and Mitchell only having a very high level comprehension of the facts about a topic they should have understood in greater detail.

The self trumpeted “crystal clear vision and laser like focus on rebuilding the economy” did not extend to knowing the first thing about how many prison beds there were right now, whether the 600 beds promised by Labour was included or on top of the 810 beds they were now proposing, what the total number of prison beds would be ( 1800 ) at the end of the project, and a raft of other details.

Mark Mitchell and Christopher Luxon were information poor but full of bluster – and the confidence game showed its farcical face on a number of occasions – as Luxon attempted to blow off questions with “Look I don’t know how to be any clearer” followed by high level spin about a different topic.

For example NewsRoom’s Marc Daalder questioned how Luxon could be so certain that the so called “Back office savings” would have no impact on front lines?

Luxon appeared agitated and lashed out, “I don’t know how to be any clearer” before talking about Government spending being up 84% since 2017 – but he never did answer the question put – because he did not understand the details about the back office “savings”.

Instead Luxon deflected about how the Corrections CE would know.

At one stage Luxon fibbed in order to save face which is becoming a pattern now.

In December 2023 Luxon doubled down that there would be only one store selling cigarettes in Northland if we did not repeal Smokefree legislation – but he walked that back after Q&A revealed he was misinformed…by waving the evidence in the nation’s faces. The game was up, time to be “straight up”.

Last week Luxon told media that every single Budget programme would be baselined and for the full four years with no “fiscal cliffs” or examples of time limited spending. 13 hours later Luxon was walking that back, because he had fibbed and reached for a straw – like a drowning man – rather than say “I don’t know”.

Yesterday Luxon was adamant that none of the 1.9 Billion for Corrections was Capital Spending ( eg building prisons ) and that it was all operational ( OPEX ) – which was another example of “making it up” on the fly.

This pattern of lying rather than admitting he has no clue because he is too lazy – would be enough for Luxon to sack any one of his ministers in his cabinet – as long as they were female, not particularly wealthy, or not a coalition party minister.

The double standard stinks.

This morning Luxon will blow things off in his media rounds – probably with a minor mea culpa about having to do better with numbers but that is not what is important etc.

The whole thing will pass out of popular memory within 24 hours at the NZ Herald – as they slather over JAG and their pound of Green Flesh but turn a wilful blind eye to the mess that is Mark Mitchell and the utter bungling of the Prime Minister.

The popular lyric from Jethro Tull that “the wise men don’t know how it feels to be thick as a brick” springs to mind when reflecting upon Mark Mitchell and how he is not across the details of his portfolio.

The neoliberal myth that “tough on crime” will work is not gelling six months into Mitchell’s watch – while down on Ponsonby road a man is shot outside a liquor store on Sunday night, or a woman lies in a pool of her own blood in a supermarket after being stabbed, or another Jewellery store is smashed and robbed in broad daylight – and Mitchell has no clue about his numbers.

Fumbling, bumbling, speaking slowly and deliberately – like heavy gravity chained around slow minds – as if he knows what he means – when he is lost at sea…far away from the facts, unable to comprehend the details of his own announcements – a public laughing stock.

Nobody is safe while Mark Mitchell is Minister of Police.

Nothing will improve while National play the “soft on crime versus tough on crime” political game while ignoring evidence about what will work.

Nobody wants to hear Luxon detail a laundry list of actions again – he has taken – while working incredibly hard – when they do not have anything to do with the questions at hand and do not work anyway,

The $1.9 Billion for Corrections is the same level of spending as in previous budgets – but there has been a great deal of smoke and mirrors applied to try and appear – like Luxon has found inefficiencies and is applying them to reshape things – inefficiencies he cannot articulate in any detail, because he thought he would get away with fobbing them off on public services CEs.

Those who watched Three at 6 last night will know how bad Luxon and Mitchell were in that post cabinet press conference.

The media know. Nobody is impressed.

The polls tell us Luxon’s government is already out of power after only six months – a telling indictment on his incompetency and lack of suitability to lead a country.

Members of the public watch slack jawed at this terrifying circus as it crashes from bungle to fark up to head shaking cringe.

While over at the NZ Herald – Audrey and Claire still have a locker full of bouquets to give to their favourite political party – especially Christopher ( it’s how he leads, how he rolls )- as they look with narrow eyes at anyone who challenges him.

Time for another “constant adjustment” Christopher.

Sack Mark Mitchell and sack yourself.

It’s the right thing to do.

What a Shite Show

Morena

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: National Government water done expensively

Water done expensively

As long as National voters ignore the facts …they are celebrating paying 5% more for water than they would have under 3 Waters in Auckland.

That’s because National’s plan has a much more expensive credit rating like BBB instead of AA like under Labour’s plan.

Luxon says ‘3 waters was a mess’ because instead of Aucklanders paying 2% more for water under 3 waters – they will now pay 7% more under National…and be worse off.

It all makes sense.

Stupid ignorant National voters are beside themselves with joy.

It’s all about getting back on track.

Unfortunately the facts also mean that Auckland is the only place National can stitch up an expensive dumb deal while the rest of the country faces even higher water rates increases.

Voting for National has real consequences on the wallets of New Zealanders and piddling tax cuts won’t eat up much of the extra costs.

Meanwhile Luxon is selling the solution – like Trump would – by rubbishing Labour’s better deal and avoiding the real story.

About 36% of voters still vote for National and many are decieved by the partial half truth tactics they are sold.

Celebrating a really bad deal is what I am seeing many of them doing right now.

What do you think?

Water done expensively

G 😊

Gerard Otto Facebook: Angry right wing trout thrash about in a bucket of denial

Maiki Sherman was right when she predicted her poll would get them talking about it, cos that is all they have done for the past day or so as demented right wing trout thrash around in a bucket and Sir John says it’s the economy stupid, while Nicola says it is silliness and fruitcake polling – as she dashes away from the voices in her head.

The self proclaimed god of wind, Pumpkin Head Jones said this was a marathon not a sprint while Luxon’s spittle about Maiki’s tone starts a feeding frenzy as media gulls peck at the non existent honeymoon the coalition should have being riding upon, as the New Zealand public files for divorce after only six months.

The three headed Taniwha lost a head and crumpled to the ground like Sauron’s Tower in Lord of the Rings when everyone yells “Frodo” and Mt Doom erupts – a bit like Richard Prebble spewing lava at Luxon in the NZ Herald this morning over those sackings.

Oh right “he is strong and clever” and all that – said the pom pom team – but like Sauron – Luxon never noticed the small people under his entitled word salad nose – and they are the ones who vote – and not one of them was happy with Luxon and his gang of neoliberal blockheads in media vox pops.

Sir John rushed to help Luxon using the excuse he was taking his former staff out to dinner – but photographic evidence places Sir John with Luxon last night – two mugs posing for desperate social media points in a beige room as the public reject Luxon and all his empty promises – restore law and order – my arse !!!

Yes crime is up, rents are up, petrol is up, half priced public Transport is over, Todd still has no FTA with India, Luxon came home empty handed from South East Asia, Seymour is ankle tapping Luxon, Winston is growling, Willis is shrieking, Gerry is threatening to get up on his feet for once – and this is not the change Kiwis voted for.

Chippy is scoring big time – pointing out the facts that this Trio of Beagle Boys prioritised $2.9 Billion for Landlords and a quick look at rich lister donors to National and Act reveal that most of the dosh Act and National got – came from the property sector as they bought the election and their economic power distorts life for New Zealanders – making everything so much worse.

It’s all due to greed.

Pullya benefit is paid off with a crony job while the pom pom team justify it – and expect voters to stay loyal.

The howling, biting and gnashing of teeth reached a crescendo in DumbTown when NewsHub published that the concealed April Talbot Poll put Labour within one point of National – 33 to 34 so chew on that Nat trolls.

Winston did point out that the Talbot poll put NZ First on 6% but he failed to mention that the Talbot polling period was weeks earlier than the TVNZ Verian poll. Lots can happen in a week.

Today Winston will give a speech about Aukus 2 which may be scary and affect trade – while over on AM Lloyd heard from Kayla at the World Wildlife Fund that the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill could threaten New Zealand’s free trade agreement with the EU. NewsHub misled the public that the EU was not concerned in a clickbait headline – when that is not what the EU said. The EU only said that the agreement was a gold standard for sustainability.

Debs from TPM had a crack at Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill in a letter to the NZ Herald this morning and Chippy hit the headlines saying everyone’s pay increases should be in line with those for MPs.

Workers Unite !!! Everyone is urged to get out there at lunchtime today and make your voices heard in Mayday protests against all the evil crap this Government is punching down on us all.

Solidarity !!!!

The upper classes are revolting and spewing in rage as their Government topples over and the gaps close up and smug smiles are wiped off privileged, greedy faces and the common people strike back.

This Government has got to go…

Angry Right Wing Trout Thrash about in a bucket of denial

Morena

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: Media Bias was Poll driven last week

The news that there’s a TVNZ Verian Poll out tonight all makes sense, when you consider the shocking timing of Christopher Luxon’s double sackings and the way media erased Chris Hipkins comments about Luxon being late to act – while NZME NZ Herald commentators, NewsTalk ZB neoliberal team – and RNZ’s Jo Moir praised Luxon to the sky during the polling period.

He had acted early and was very clever – and stronger than the foundations of the earth – according to poll sensitive media.

The way some media behaved to cheerlead Luxon was in direct contradiction with everything journalism should be about – and now it’s obvious this was being driven by a polling agenda.

Media’s role in a democracy is to prop up the neoliberal political party of the wealthiest New Zealanders.

That’s the message.

It seems reasonable to conclude that Luxon had to be propped up by some media and Labour smashed down during this sensitive stage – after the public were outraged by the Three Headed Taniwha’s destructive punch downs on the disabled, dithering and coalition arm wrestling over media policy, evidence free Crime policies that do not work, anti Treaty racist attacks on Māori and the Waitangi Tribunal, border line corrupt fast track consenting arrogance, and unnecessary suffering – sacking good people in vital public service roles – just to make Nicola Willis look good.

Actions spoke louder than any words.

We saw Audrey Young furiously dishing out bouquets to Luxon and serving up brick bats to Chris Hipkins during the polling period.

We saw Fran O’Sullivan glowing about “intensity” and “relevance” and “deeper relationships” while Luxon clowned about on a junket over in South East Asia that yielded no tangible outcomes.

We saw Claire Trevett coach and help Chris Bishop – getting him to sell fast track consenting better during that polling period.

Media downplayed the context of the sackings, barely touching upon the clash between Act and NZ First over the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill …as Bryce Edwards blamed it all on Melissa Lee.

It’s worth reflecting how Luxon has said he was not going to do anything about Melissa Lee “at this time” before he went to South East Asia – probably because he was lining up the TVNZ Verian Poll and Anzac day for the announcement.

It’s probably a good thing there is a poll happening now given we seem to have missed a Talbot poll in April 2024…so the only other poll is an Atlas Network TPU poll taken at the start of the month.

Yes I know – who cares about polls – well National bloody well do and so do NZME and RNZ. These are dodgy days for National as it implements horrible damage on New Zealand…and hangs out for Nicola’s Budget to pretend it’s all okay with the pom pom team.

The appointment of Paula Bennett to Chair Pharmac may have come on the last day of polling – and by the time David Seymour rushed to announce $1.7 Billion in extra funds for Pharmac this morning – polling was probably about finished.

It’s likely Bennett was always earmarked for the job, given it was coming free and she had helped raise massive donations for National…and there was synergy between Act and National and the Atlas Network to spend more on Big Phrama drugs.

Notably Labour raised about $1.2 Million across 2021, 2022 and 2023 going into the 2023 Election – compared to $8.26 Million raised by National and $4.4 Million by Act.

Bennett helped raise a couple of million and she needed a job.

Most of National and Act’s donors were from real estate, commercial and residential property developers and investors – and National and Act saw to it that they were paid out for their support in the first 100 days in the form of tax cuts around the bright line and interest deductibility. Of course Luxon and Willis had done their best to offer more with the Foreign Buyers Tax, but Winston had cancelled that in return for the smoke free death cult law changes.

Some of the big donors did have links to Pharmaceuticals and it’s worth mentioning one of the nine directors at the NZ Initiative is all about “access to drugs” and made big moves straight after the election to prepare herself for this.

The ties between Atlas and Act are many and National are also in their glove – and we saw the likes of Stephen Jennings, Dame Jenny Gibbs, David Richwhite and more feature in the big donations.

Naturally there’s no raising of the conciseness of the voters in NZ about these influencers by media – who regard it all as old news and something rather untouchable – like they might be biting the hand that feeds them to report the truth.

Personally I am hoping that Verian’s polling sample reflects a narrowing of the gap between the left and the right block since the election – but I won’t hold much hope for that tonight, and remember it’s three years till another election anyway.

I think we can see – the big end of town helped buy the election with media assistance and now jobs for mates, $4,000 per day pay rates and big paybacks to donors come first – while the bottom feeders and squeezed middle stand around in shades of outrage and confusion.

It’s a bit like when you’ve been violated and you are still in shock.

Mayday protests 1 May – book them in.

Media Bias was Poll driven last week

G

Gerard Otto Facebook: Media bias was poll driven last week

The news that there’s a TVNZ Verian Poll out tonight all makes sense, when you consider the shocking timing of Christopher Luxon’s double sackings and the way media erased Chris Hipkins comments about Luxon being late to act – while NZME NZ Herald commentators, NewsTalk ZB neoliberal team – and RNZ’s Jo Moir praised Luxon to the sky during the polling period.

He had acted early and was very clever – and stronger than the foundations of the earth – according to poll sensitive media.

The way some media behaved to cheerlead Luxon was in direct contradiction with everything journalism should be about – and now it’s obvious this was being driven by a polling agenda.

Media’s role in a democracy is to prop up the neoliberal political party of the wealthiest New Zealanders.

That’s the message.

It seems reasonable to conclude that Luxon had to be propped up by some media and Labour smashed down during this sensitive stage – after the public were outraged by the Three Headed Taniwha’s destructive punch downs on the disabled, dithering and coalition arm wrestling over media policy, evidence free Crime policies that do not work, anti Treaty racist attacks on Māori and the Waitangi Tribunal, border line corrupt fast track consenting arrogance, and unnecessary suffering – sacking good people in vital public service roles – just to make Nicola Willis look good.

Actions spoke louder than any words.

We saw Audrey Young furiously dishing out bouquets to Luxon and serving up brick bats to Chris Hipkins during the polling period.

We saw Fran O’Sullivan glowing about “intensity” and “relevance” and “deeper relationships” while Luxon clowned about on a jolly over in South East Asia that yielded no tangible outcomes.

We saw Claire Trevett coach and help Chris Bishop – getting him to sell fast track consenting better during that polling period.

Media downplayed the context of the sackings, barely touching upon the clash between Act and NZ First over the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill …as Bryce Edwards blamed it all on Melissa Lee.

It’s worth reflecting how Luxon has said he was not going to do anything about Melissa Lee “at this time” before he went to South East Asia – probably because he was lining up the TVNZ Verian Poll and Anzac day for the announcement.

It’s probably a good thing there is a poll happening now given we seem to have missed a Talbot poll in April 2024…so the only other poll is an Atlas Network TPU poll taken at the start of the month.

Yes I know – who cares about polls – well National bloody well do and so do NZME and RNZ. These are dodgy days for National as it implements horrible damage on New Zealand…and hangs out for Nicola’s Budget to pretend it’s all okay with the pom pom team.

The appointment of Paula Bennett to Chair Pharmac may have come on the last day of polling – and by the time David Seymour rushed to announce $1.7 Billion in extra funds for Pharmac this morning – polling was probably about finished.

It’s likely Bennett was always earmarked for the job, given it was coming free and she had helped raise massive donations for National…and there was synergy between Act and National and the Atlas Network to spend more on Big Pharma drugs.

Notably Labour raised about $1.2 Million across 2021, 2022 and 2023 going into the 2023 Election – compared to $8.26 Million raised by National and $4.4 Million by Act.

Bennett helped raise a couple of million and she needed a job.

Most of National and Act’s donors were from real estate, commercial and residential property developers and investors – and National and Act saw to it that they were paid out for their support in the first 100 days in the form of tax cuts around the bright line and interest deductibility. Of course Luxon and Willis had done their best to offer more with the Foreign Buyers Tax, but Winston had cancelled that in return for the smoke free death cult law changes.

Some of the big donors did have links to Pharmaceuticals and it’s worth mentioning one of the nine directors at the NZ Initiative is all about “access to drugs” and made big moves straight after the election to prepare herself for this.

The ties between Atlas and Act are many and National are also in their glove – and we saw the likes of Stephen Jennings, Dame Jenny Gibbs, David Richwhite and more feature in the big donations.

Naturally there’s no raising of the consciousness of the voters in NZ about these influencers by media – who regard it all as old news and something rather untouchable – like they might be biting the hand that feeds them to report the truth.

Personally I am hoping that Verian’s polling sample reflects a narrowing of the gap between the left and the right block since the election – but I won’t hold much hope for that tonight, and remember it’s three years till another election anyway.

I think we can see – the big end of town helped buy the election with media assistance and now jobs for mates, $4,000 per day pay rates and big paybacks to donors come first – while the bottom feeders and squeezed middle stand around in shades of outrage and confusion.

It’s a bit like when you’ve been violated and you are still in shock.

Mayday protests 1 May – book them in.

Media Bias was Poll driven last week

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: Luxon’s Aces in their Bases bollocks

All the aces were in their places when bounded up the stairs, to announce his new Government, including Melissa Lee with the Media and Communications portfolio and Penny Simmonds looking after the Disabled.

Lee was very experienced in media, and thought to be something of a thorn in Labour’s side – and Simmonds had been around for some time.

A pair of Aces in their places in Christopher’s deck.

Things were simple and straightforward way back then, in November 2023, but around 27 February 2024, Discovery announced it was shutting down NewsHub.

It is reported that RNZ understood Newshub contacted the Prime Minister’s office ahead of the 11 am meeting that day – and asked for Christopher Luxon to get in touch. Luxon said it is “highly unlikely” there would be any government intervention in the sector.

Was it that lack of intervention that made Mellisa Lee’s job suddenly more complex?

The Prime Minister told media “Media players in the marketplace are completely free to innovate as they wish to make sure that they can build a sustainable business model that works for the customers that they serve … there are some media outlets that are doing that and are working incredibly well.” – Luxon

Yes it was a live and let die, free market ideology that Luxon was amplifying in late February 2024.

So whether his Minister was Melissa or Paul Goldsmith – the situation was the same – National was not going to intervene unless something forced them to do so.

On 4 March 2024 Guyon Espiner reported :

“Officials warned the government it may face requests to bailout media companies if it failed to progress a law forcing digital platforms to pay local media for using their content.

The warning, from officials at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, came in November last year, months before Newshub collapsed.

The advice to Media and Communications Minister Melissa Lee said any further delay to a law change forcing Google and Facebook to pay local media companies for using their news content could lead to job losses.”

The complexity of it all – National being pressured to do something they do not want to do – the looming possibility of bailouts if they don’t get on with things – while Melissa Lee submits a paper about responses to the situation to Cabinet – without consulting NZ First.

But wait – on 19 March 2024 RNZ reported that Lee had been consulting coalition partners about that paper before submitting it?

“Lee is set to take a paper to Cabinet soon, setting out her plans for the portfolio. She has been consulting with coalition partners before she takes the paper to Cabinet committee.” – RNZ 3:31 pm on 19 March 2024.

That’s right Batman, something wasn’t quite adding up, but as per usual there’s a perfectly rational explanation – like, she did consult, but not enough.

Anyway – as you know Lee was kind of wandering around in this sort of empty, confused landscape, where she was stuck in a vortex of uncertainty – caught between no intervention and having to intervene while Winston blocks things – and saying to passing media, I don’t know, I have a paper, I’m not a magician and there’s other media who do just fine, ….while overhead a Winston Bomber flies and drops the explosive news that Lee’s paper has been sent back to coventry.

Wow, what a cock up that was – the coalition of chaos standing on land mines – but deeply humiliating for Lee who must have privately looked like an angry frog when the headlines lit up.

Winston 1 National 0 and Lee proceeds to the naughty corner.

On some level we all feel a bit of sympathy – but only in the same way Melissa felt sympathy for Clare. It must have been crap being strung out into no mans land and then being shat on from a very great height by a coalition partner in public like that.

This seems one of the unseen features of MMP – the back room snapping and yelping and scratching – while before cameras it’s all smiles and waves.

“Have you ever seen such a smooth well oiled Machine?”, said You’ve got to be joking – to I’ll buy that for a dollar.

Lee was the unlucky person to be abandoned like this to uncertainty at the wrong time – when media’s self interest was raised to a peak height and Luxon was like die you mofo die, why won’t you die…but using other words – like “What I would say to you, clearly – and I want to be clear, that’s how I roll, it’s time to innovate like other media do.”

So while I won’t weep about Melissa – I do acknowledge that her brand was burned by a combination of intense media focus, Luxon’s Free Market resistance to intervene, Winston’s hostile wagging of the dog, and – a leaking cabinet – and so she has been swapped out – humiliated, dragged to a table, forced to sign a statement, and a new deal has been agreed so she can carry on – but outside Cabinet, like push off, thanks for nothing.

Luxon said it was nothing to do with her really, cos he was likely talking about the inner coalition dynamics, conflicts and uncertainty about the near future – and the resistance to tax Facebook or Google.

It’s worth adding that the whole aces in their places thing only applies in the context of handling Winston and Seymour.

Lee has no experience, Goldsmith a smidgeon more, but the thing that’s different about Goldsmith is – he’s in the inner circle – he gets to meet with the tight five.

It’s easier for Luxon to control the coalition dynamics with cards closer to his chest.

The Atlas Network Think Tank the NZ Initiative – came out and stated it was against taxing these digital giants and instead media should stand on their own two feet.

That brought the Atlas Network into direct conflict with media bosses – which is trouble at home – like shouting in the bedroom.

Whereas the Simmonds thing was more a simple case of a Minister who is tone deaf – handling cost overruns wrongly, penny pinching the disabled and their carers to pay for tax cuts and how the public deeply resented this.

Simmonds was merely communicating exactly what Neoliberals think and the general lack of empathy they have – which is a feature of all these cuts to jobs.

You’ve got Seymour taking the free lunches away – and he’s proud to do so. That kind of thing…

The brand damage to Simmonds was deep and by proxy to National…and many were simply disgusted. Spit on the ground type stuff.

This was really all about a pawn doing the Queens dirty work.

Someone had to be held up and punished by demotion to take the heat off Willis and the way all of this cruel neoliberal cost cutting and sacking is entirely unnecessary and all for her election bribe.

The cuts for the disabled – I mean – it is a deliberate choice – not to care – and that choice has been made by Willis and Luxon and the inner circle – to let vulnerable and “bottom feeder” NZ go to hell – but with a tax cut…worth three chuppa chups a week.

So as you can see, it’s not about Luxon being stronger or striking fear into the hearts of MPs as Thomas says – but him being in a big internal coalition dog fight. His team likely coached him what to do and say, Bishop’s tiny mouth flapping, Willis screeching, Goldsmith chattering like a bespectacled ferret…the Atlas Network frowning…

So it was Luxon bounded up the stairs …it’s how he rolls, it’s how he leads…I am just a person who…blah blah blah

Aces in their places

G 🙂

Gerard Otto Facebook: Media coverage of the sackings

Yesterday no media covered the fact that media still have no idea what solution this Government will propose to help solve their decline as time marches on.

The Government has been missing in action and that comes back to leadership.

Stuff reported – “Luxon did not indicate if Goldsmith would bring a new approach to the media portfolio, and he didn’t say if the Government’s position on the Digital News Bargaining Bill had changed.”

Media are still guessing and wishful thinking about what might happen while the Government sits on its hands and takes its time like there is no hurry really. Waiting for Winston? Whatever.

There was no mention by any media that Luxon was slow to act to address issues that the rest of New Zealand had seen months ago – although some media ( RNZ ) picked up on the fact Luxon had left a clue about ten days ago that he was going to do something when he said “not at this point” regarding Melissa Lee. ( I mentioned this to Vicki at the time and now regret not highlighting it on G News ).

No media covered how well Labour’s Priyanka had put Penny Simmonds in the spot light in Parliament over the issues – which seemed at odds with the way Melissa Lee had regularly been featured on TV News prosecuting a hesitant Clare Curran in the House some years ago.

Labour is mostly rendered invisible and minimised, especially when a female MP does a sterling job.

Most Media limited comments by Chris Hipkins to those concerning ” a fast revolving door” should Luxon continue to make “regular adjustments” and edited out Hipkins remarks about Luxon being slow to act, the defamatory nature of Simmond’s remarks, the suggestion Upston start with an apology to the Disabled Community.

Stuff may have reported this material in their blog, but all others were an epic fail.

There was some reference to the way Luxon should have taken up Chippy’s suggestion he double down – and sack Jones and Seymour in a “regular adjustment” – and an acknowledgement by Amelia Wade that Luxon was powerless and limited to acting in his own caucus for fear of destabilising the Government.

A situation we see on a regular basis as Seymour and Peters mock Luxon and reprimand him in public.

Predictably TVNZ 1 News began with action hero words describing Luxon as “Double trouble” and “swinging the axe” as did NewsHub at 6.

Both TVNZ 1 News and NewsHub played up Luxon’s soundbites about the three “rights” ( right people, right assignment, right time ) and action hero words like “This is how I roll, this is how I lead” and both highlighted what Melissa Lee and Penny Simmonds had botched up.

On TVNZ 1 News, Bryce Edwards said nobody buys Luxon’s BS about complexities when this was about underperforming ministers and on NewsHub at 6 – Amelia stated that Luxon refused to state that this was about performance.

But no such comments could be found at the NZ Herald where Claire Trevett was “making up” what Luxon meant by “complexities” as she streamed Luxon consciousness saying the situation in media had become white hot.

Maiki Sherman reported that neither sacked Minister would respond to requests for an interview – and Maiki mentioned how they had both signed “almost identical statements” that they supported the decision.

Stuff published parts of those statements and all that differed were the names. This looked like duress and coercion from Luxon.

There was bugger all coverage of Debs take that this was misogyny and instead the pom pom team at the NZ Herald took up the ridiculous angle that what we just saw was our action hero Luxon striking fear into the hearts of all National MPs.

Thomas Coughlan dribbled on the tiles podcast like a paid sycophant :

“Luxon probably emerges stronger – this guy is not mucking around and this guy does not tolerate the weak”.

Ironically “this guy had been mucking around for months” and was very late to act and unable to be honest about the reasons why.

Given both ministers were crap, tone deaf, embarrassing to Luxon and this government needed to do damage control and hide the reality without accepting any accountability – the whole exercise was heavy handed and comedic.

Luxon bounded on stage as the pom pom team gasped in admiration but everyone else thought what an egotist and a ham over acting wide boy…endless memes were created on X and social media echoed with derision.

The notion that Goldsmith is an ace in any place is a face palm – after all those $4 Billion holes and clearly there’s nothing Paul Goldsmith would have done differently given all decisions are being delayed by Winston right now.

Goldsmith proved he was an ace when he recently moved a motion without Justice in Parliament and everybody mocked his arse for his incompetence.

Upston will not be apologising for Simmonds when Luxon sees nothing wrong with Simmonds – it’s just the complexity – and now some of the support cruelly taken away from carers has been allowed again – by Whaikaha – the Ministry for the Disabled.

Amelia Wade got it right when she said both ministers had lost the trust of the sectors they support – but there is also the fact that the Government behind these ministers was all lost at sea and fighting with each other behind the scenes.

NewsHub at 6 actually canvassed the view of a disabled person while TVNZ 1 News focused more on Melissa Lee, at a supercar event.

The NZ Herald cheered for their action hero who is now stronger and more feared – which was sickening – and as mentioned right at the start of this article, media are no closer to a solution, and no media criticised Luxon for being slow footed and late to act.

The wheels are coming off and bouncing all over the track as the pom pom team dress up utter incompetence as strength and we wonder why New Zealanders vote for Neoliberal governments.

What a shocker.

It’s how he rolls.

Media Coverage of Sackings

Morena

G 🙂

Gerard Otto: G news the wheels falling off the Luxon led government

G News – the good news

Where is the April Talbot Poll? It’s now 24 April and in previous months – this poll is usually released to the public around the middle of the month. It’s late – but why?

Meanwhile Audrey Young has expressed a view that either way – whether the High Court makes Karen Chhour respond or not – Karen should provide the Waitangi Tribunal with a written statement.

Audrey awarded the Department of Internal Affairs a brick bat for sacking people that make Luxon look like a knob.

Surely they jest thought Audrey but Chippy reckoned – there is no fat for CEs to cut – this is what you get when National insist on tax cuts at the down point in the economic cycle.

Chippy has been “on fire” today tearing strips off the Prime Minister for taking months to act to get rid of underperforming ministers – and to be frank Luxon could not even be honest and straight about that neither.

“Luxon’s full of shite”, said an organic punga.

“It’s how he rolls, months after the bleeding obvious”, said a flax bush when everybody else could see media were in trouble and Simmonds was off the hook.

“Portfolios evolved”, warbled a majestical Tui, before yelling “YEAH RIGHT” and flying off to peck at penny Simmonds.

“Nobody is buying the BS”, said G from G News, “Luxon is a parody of all that is wrong and comedic with a wide boy pretending to be ruthlessly focused and on top of his game but failing with almost every word to be credible. The road ahead for media was well signalled with repeated annual losses, so making up a story about sudden portfolio complexity shows Luxon lacked judgement when he made appointments and he lacks honesty now.”

“Like spin through the hourglass, so are the mistakes of his life”, said Monty not bothering to open his eyes.

Chippy reckoned after six months the wheels have fallen off and if Luxon is going to make changes every time one of his ministers underperforms we will see a fast moving revolving door.

The endless spin is beyond a joke and even the pom pom team at the NZ Herald can see this does not stack up.

Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio,

Nobody reading this is Gerry Brownlee !!!

Hooray !!!

Chippy also made comments today about the latest RMA changes and how Federated Farmers comments that the previous Government had been “in a war against farmers” was absolute nonsense.

In fact water regulations were working and it was not a justified argument to simply remove all regulations calling them red tape – we do not do that in law and order and having cows standing knee deep in mud is not acceptable.

Overall this Government has been prioritising vested interests over the environment about matters concerning the environment and the public are not happy about that.

Mark Mitchell ( Mr Plod ) reckoned people making submissions at select committee can fill their boots but this Government will just do what it planned to do and implement zombie patch bans that do not work.

Whoever heard of Mr Plod listening to evidence?

The name “Three News” is ‘being considered’ for new 6pm bulletin run by Stuff at 6Pm which may explain why WarnerBrothers rushed to apply for a trademark for it.

Nearly everyone on G News said block Jimmy Peters Seymour the troll – and the High Court of G News is deliberating on a decision based on all the evidence.

I’m off to collect the groceries right now and to collect Vicki from work.

Looking forward to Anzac Day tomorrow. It’s been quite a week – no evidence about Three Strikes, Willis looking at ripping off flood resilience, Luxon sacking people months too late, Seymour reprimanding Luxon, nothing to show for the South east Asia jolly and zombie Gang patch ban legislation no matter what.

Back soon.

G News – the good news

G

Gerard Otto Facebook: Zero trust balance and agency – corrupt government and our complicit biased rightwing media

Trust, balance and agency

In January 2023 the political commentariat and media were concerned how the National Party must not be allowed to sleepwalk to victory in the October 2023 election with hardly any policy details to show for themselves.

There was some comment that the “small target” centred around being deliberately vague about policy and repeating a load of slogans by the National Party was a deliberate strategy.

Some lamented an emptiness and superficiality while others accused Luxon of lacking principle – but one thing is for sure – at that stage Labour and National were not far apart in the polls so these sorts of concerns about sleep walking to victory were premature, but regardless – National had been granted “the agency” by NZ Media.

They were going to win and therefore it was National who media focused on and listened to most.

I can recall Luke Malpass ( great mate of Atlas Network’s Oliver Hartwhich ) writing that Labour had lost the agency while National Party headlines dominated media.

Backdrops of Christopher Luxon took centre stage behind Simon Dallow on TVNZ 1 News as the PM was shoved to one side – and nearly every night we listened to Luxon and Seymour get the lion’s share of coverage – while Chippy and James Shaw were edited down to a single sound bite.

Luxon and Seymour were celebrated as Politicians of the Year ahead of Dame Jacinda Ardern by the NZ Herald and then it was Winston who took the crown according to the NZ Herald.

Complaints about balance fell on deaf ears at the BSA and formerly calm New Zealanders reported shouting at their TV sets and reaching the decision not to watch the news anymore.

Something rotten was happening across NZ Media as we watched footage of RAM RAIDs being hauled out and replayed the second or third time – while Luxon coached us and media agreed grimly a few nights a week.

Media refused to haul up Luxon for saying Government Spending was the main driver of inflation, and this lack of interest in factually incorrect sloganeering carried on through the election all the way to today.

Nicola Willis was celebrated as a financial wizard and of course her “how big is his hole” remarks were a great reason to love her even more while Chris Bishop was one of the lads with his cricket bat and cap.

Jessica was dismayed that TVNZ had tried to get Luxon to perform more circus tricks after boxing and flipping burgers and she told other Press Gallery reporters we “really have to get to know him”.

Strangely – while Chippy was meeting Xi Jinping – the Press Gallery gathered around an unnamed source who claimed Kiri Allen had once raised her voice a few years ago – and Andrea Vance published damning articles to haul her down.

The really suspicious media pattern here was the media pile ons surrounding a continuous serial drip feed of four Labour Ministers being hauled up for things that mostly happened a year or two ago – starting with Nash, then Michael Wood, then Jan Tinetti, then Kiri Allen.

Curiously the serial parade seemed staged four months out from an election and suspicion seemed justified that this was National’s Dirt Unit feeding the media who were only too eager for the eyes and ears.

Media published Mug Shots of the Ministers like they were unwanted criminals…multiple times.

Hearings at the privileges committee were made lead news on TVNZ 1 News in the manner of witch trials as Gerry, Simeon Brown and Michael Woodhouse ( Toilet seat ) accused Jan – unlike when National’s Tim van de Molen made threatening moves at Labour’s Shannon Halbert…a minor story and now the weather etc.

It took media five weeks in the run up to the election to report that National’s deception about $250 per week ( fortnight ) in tax relief only applied to 3,000 people…all that time not one journalist across all of NZ’s media did the analysis and it was left to the vilified CTU to point out the salient facts.

I could go on and on describing the picture ( I have not even mentioned Newstalk ZB ) – but safe to say – if National were riding on a wave of post pandemic resentment – it had been greatly amplified by our media as if they were one team working together to change the government.

National had the agency according to the media and that meant centre stage for the Opposition.

Everyone noticed the cliff RAM Raid stories fell off just one day after the election and now bugger all is mentioned as if the election “solved that crisis”.

After the election Labour’s Helen White was harassed by media for only winning the Mt Albert seat over Melissa Lee by 18 votes – and she was portrayed as losing for winning under the circumstances.

Ginny Andersen was attacked by media for several nights based on hearsay from an anonymous disgruntled volunteer…and the list of these vicious headlines over bugger all – went on and on.

Who can forget the attacks on Poto Williams or against Marama or the horrible racism against Nanaia?

Meanwhile media think there is no problem here and I have been told by a news reader to my face that :

“You have to accept some criticism on your side”.

Yes no doubt Labour admits mistakes as do the Greens and TPM – but we are not talking about that – are we?

Part of the problem is media do not believe there really is a problem to be fixed.

See according to media – the problem is with the public not the media. They get this sort of thing from both sides so – they are perfect in the middle. No explanation nor case by case specifics required.

Yesterday Christopher Luxon “got away with” taking credit when it was not due about inflation falling to 4% and nobody in our media rounded up these behaviours from the Prime Minister on social media. Same can be said for his Finance Minister.

Holding Government to account does not extend to what they actually say on social media.

Last night Kim Baker Wilson ran a story with no comment from Labour nor the Greens nor TPM about unleashing loan sharks on vulnerable people in a massive departure from pre-election coverage.

Many of you noticed the “zero balance” immediately and there was an outcry on several social media pages.

Perhaps Media will now make amends and get the Opposition to comment – so that complaints to the BSA can be easier to dismiss?

As you know all of this has been carrying on against a backdrop of falling media revenue and plummeting trust in media to tell us the whole story.

Trust in media has fallen over this period by 9% from 42% to 33% and there’s no stopping the decline it seems.

On the one hand we are sympathetic to people losing their jobs and to be fair – there have been occasions on TVNZ 1 News and NewsHub recently where the Government have had strips taken off them and so they should.

If balance in media is determined by the polls and “agency” then perhaps this is a curable self created convention that media can attend to?

In January 2024 Thomas Coughlan declared that Labour risk being irrelevant – which seemed like a suggestion as the headline boasted that National were “soaring” in one poll because it was only 2% higher than the previous poll.

Chippy came in for criticism from John Campbell for not barking at every passing car a couple of months ago – but then when the time was right and job cuts were happening – he stepped up and gave a powerful speech that rallied the troops.

We also saw fire from Chlöe and Chippy in parliament which never makes the news nor analysis in any media – as we all sit here reading this summarised account cos it is now the same old story in New Zealand.

Can somebody fix it?

Trust, balance and agency

Morena

G 🙂