The Official Aotearoa Politics Thread

[Guy Smiley]

He's opened this up for public viewing...

https://thekaka.substack.com/p/the-very ... paign=post

this is where we are at in this country. Fucked.

That is just so fucked up it's almost unbelievable.

How can they possibly justify the additional human and economic costs of their tax "cuts"?

It's a coalition of amoral, regressive cunts.

It's Day Two of a 3 year term. Buckle up, shit is going to get surreal.

[Gumboot]

I can't get my head around all this Golriz Ghahraman conjecture. Is it really down to kleptomania? There's gotta be more going on than this, no?

[Guy Smiley]

Yeah, something doesn’t add up.

Interesting that it was NewstalkZB that were the only outlet reporting on this and the shop concerned didn’t want it to be made public.

Smells of a hatchet job to me.

[Gumboot]

She has now been accused of shoplifting twice from the same shop.

Innocent until proven guilty, of course....

[Gumboot]

Another one bites the dust.

Oh well, she'll probably follow Kiri Allen and all the other shameless cunts into the lucrative field of post-politics lobbying...

Consequences?

LOL

[Certain Navigator]

Yeah, something doesn’t add up.

Interesting that it was NewstalkZB that were the only outlet reporting on this and the shop concerned didn’t want it to be made public.

Smells of a hatchet job to me.

Nah, just sounds like business-as-usual socialism to me — stealing from the 'rich' (i.e., any private company) to benefit themselves. A little more blatant than their usual approach admittedly, but very much the same principle.

[Gumboot]

Yeah, something doesn’t add up.

Interesting that it was NewstalkZB that were the only outlet reporting on this and the shop concerned didn’t want it to be made public.

Smells of a hatchet job to me.

Nah, just sounds like business-as-usual socialism to me — stealing from the 'rich' (i.e., any private company) to benefit themselves. A little more blatant than their usual approach admittedly, but very much the same principle.

Jenny Ship-Shapley says hi.

That's the stupidly rich Jenny who's been convicted of fraud but doesn't give a fuck about anyone she's hurt.

Your hero Jenny.

[Gumboot]

Yeah, thought so... scurry off as soon as your unsubstantiated horseshit gets called out...all hat no cattle...

What a joke

[Gumboot]

John Banks

Not a socialist. The Minister of Police under Muldoon during the 1981 Springbok Tour.

A man so hollow he denies the very existence of his proven biological son.

Because he thinks it's politically embarrassing.

ie. an utter cunt...

But to some dullards he's a good bloke coz he's not "woke".

[Guy Smiley]

This is going to go well, isn't it...

[Gumboot]

“The public service has been knee deep in this interpretation so it’s not surprising its advice mirrors this. New Zealanders want a respectful debate on the constitutional future of our country and that’s what they’ve voted for.”

Bullshit we did, you divisive, ferret-faced fuck.

What was ACT's share of the popular vote again?

Oh yeah, it was 8.64%

Lying cunt.

[Guy Smiley]

Remember those aluminium softball bats we had at school way back when? Imagine the sound you could make whanging one of those off the side of his head.

[Gumboot]

Remember those aluminium softball bats we had at school way back when? Imagine the sound you could make whanging one of those off the side of his head.

Well, he's a small-govt lower-case libertarian with diddly-squat popular support who now that he has a whiff of actual govt power wants to make sweeping legislative changes and enforce his pitifully weak "mandate" on the rest of the country.

And worst of all, in the space of a few short months his >10% of the popular vote has entrenched American style culture war politics to our otherwise relatively benign political landscape, something Peters tried and failed to do over numerous election cycles.

But now they're in cahoots, and in power together. And does anyone seriously believe Luxon can rein them in..?

We Kiwis are in for a very nasty next few years, imho.

[Certain Navigator]

Remember those aluminium softball bats we had at school way back when? Imagine the sound you could make whanging one of those off the side of his head.

Well, he's a small-govt lower-case libertarian with diddly-squat popular support who now that he has a whiff of actual govt power wants to make sweeping legislative changes and enforce his pitifully weak "mandate" on the rest of the country.

And worst of all, in the space of a few short months his >10% of the popular vote has entrenched American style culture war politics to our otherwise relatively benign political landscape, something Peters tried and failed to do over numerous election cycles.

But now they're in cahoots, and in power together. And does anyone seriously believe Luxon can rein them in..?

We Kiwis are in for a very nasty next few years, imho.

Indeed we are, and all of it seems likely to be created by people like you. Deny the facts, deny economics, deny history and just keep pushing the same nonsense that's been a disaster every time and every place it's been tried. And resort to ad hominen insults and threats of violence when challenged. It's really quite astounding how the people banging on about 'hate' and 'culture wars' are overwhelmingly the ones instigating both.

BTW, Jenny Shipley was found guilty of incompetence, not fraud (it was a civil case) If that standard were applied to the NZ Left, there'd be none left (although this year has seen them resort more to outright theft/fraud as well...)

[Gumboot]

Remember those aluminium softball bats we had at school way back when? Imagine the sound you could make whanging one of those off the side of his head.

Well, he's a small-govt lower-case libertarian with diddly-squat popular support who now that he has a whiff of actual govt power wants to make sweeping legislative changes and enforce his pitifully weak "mandate" on the rest of the country.

And worst of all, in the space of a few short months his >10% of the popular vote has entrenched American style culture war politics to our otherwise relatively benign political landscape, something Peters tried and failed to do over numerous election cycles.

But now they're in cahoots, and in power together. And does anyone seriously believe Luxon can rein them in..?

We Kiwis are in for a very nasty next few years, imho.

Indeed we are, and all of it seems likely to be created by people like you. Deny the facts, deny economics, deny history and just keep pushing the same nonsense that's been a disaster every time and every place it's been tried. And resort to ad hominen insults and threats of violence when challenged. It's really quite astounding how the people banging on about 'hate' and 'culture wars' are overwhelmingly the ones instigating both.

BTW, Jenny Shipley was found guilty of incompetence, not fraud (it was a civil case) If that standard were applied to the NZ Left, there'd be none left (although this year has seen them resort more to outright theft/fraud as well...)

As if the minuscule extreme right wing is anything else but a rort. Laughable.

Nobody voted for a referendum on the Treaty.

Seymour's a populist fraud, as is anyone stupid enough to support his divisive race-baiting bullshit.

Cop onto yourself... this is Aotearoa, not fucking South Carolina.

[Gumboot]

Deny the facts, deny economics, deny history and just keep pushing the same nonsense that's been a disaster every time and every place it's been tried.

OK, trying to be fair, please explain what you mean with this word salad...

Deny the facts?

Deny economics?

Deny history?

The floor is yours,...

[Gumboot]

"threats of violence"



What a dick.

[Gumboot]

Should we simply stand aside and allow racism to gain traction in our nation?

Do minority extremists like Seymour really represent our values?

Do we really want the world to start viewing New Zealand as hostile to diversity and intolerant to indigenous rights?

[Gumboot]

Is it 2024, or 1981?

[Guy Smiley]

Just a coincidence here, nothing to worry about...

https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/01/22/govt- ... ent-clerk/

In a rare, albeit private, criticism of the Government of the day, the Clerk of the House David Wilson told staff in an email last week that new budget cuts would limit the work of Parliament.

The message, obtained by Newsroom, said Wilson received an email from Finance Minister Nicola Willis at the end of last year instructing his office “to make savings of 6.5 percent from the 2024/25 financial year. Vote Office of the Clerk is to be reduced by $1.6 million at the next Budget. All departments [are] required to make similar savings, proportional to their size.”

Newsroom has confirmed the authenticity of the email.

After revealing the scale of the proposed cuts in his email, Wilson wrote that the office had already “been under significant budget pressure for years”.

In response, the management team had been reduced, radio broadcasts of Parliament were defunded, refreshments for MPs in select committee were removed and no additional functions would be undertaken unless they had specific funding.

“These changes enabled us to manage within our budget. However, the Government’s new requirement will require us to reduce some services and cease others,” Wilson wrote.

“The proposed budget reduction will diminish the service we can provide in support of our Parliament. I remain very concerned that the executive can effectively limit the work of the legislature by reducing its funding.”

Dean Knight, a public law professor at Victoria University of Wellington, called the move “deeply worrying.”

“It’s constitutionally concerning that executive government is cutting funding for an institution whose job it is to hold government to account. Democracies like ours cherish the independence of Parliament, especially as our Westminster systems sees some personnel shared between the executive and legislature. The impacts of funding cuts on the separation of powers is obvious,” he said.

Duncan Webb, Labour’s deputy shadow leader of the House, told Newsroom the budget cuts were “a matter of constitutional significance, because the separation of powers is a fundamental concept of our democracy. The glue that holds it together is these unspoken conventions and one of them is that the Clerk acts responsibly in asking for the funding he or she needs and the Minister of Finance doesn’t quibble.”

Staff at the Office of the Clerk undertake a range of functions for Parliament, including providing specialist advice on select committees.

“Every time a Member of Parliament asks a question of the Government, it is monitored in quality by the Office of the Clerk. I’m not suggesting these cuts are going to affect that, but that’s what they do,” Webb said.

“When Parliamentarians try to bend the rules in the legislative process – and they do – it’s the clerk that pulls them into line. The clerk is the last check on how our democracy works and so to defund the clerk is genuinely to defund our democracy and it must have an effect on the quality of our legislation and government.”

“The cuts, which are significant, will inevitably mean that the work of Parliament will suffer,” Knight said. “Poorer quality legislation, because it’s parliamentary clerks who help MPs appraise draft Bills and translate their wishes into amendments. Weaker scrutiny of government, because it’s parliamentary clerks who staff the mechanisms through which MPs ask questions of ministers and officials when holding the government to account. A less accessible Parliament, because it’s parliamentary clerks who help folk make submissions to select committees and help open the doors of Parliament to the people, whether physically or virtually.”

Wilson said in the email that he planned to raise the importance of the office with Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee and Willis and advocate for an exemption from the cuts.

When the National Party first proposed 6.5 percent cuts to agency spending during the election campaign, it was for 21 specific departments. The Office of the Clerk was not on that list.

The Office of the Clerk declined to comment, citing Budget sensitivity. A request for comment to the Finance Minister was redirected to Brownlee, who confirmed he had received a letter from Willis last year but that the contents were Budget-sensitive.

The Speaker said he would be having discussions with the office next week to discuss Budget 2024 proposals. He added there was always a need to consider the propriety of government expenditure, particularly given budget priorities would change as policy priorities did.

Knight said the funding cuts “risk upsetting an important and delicate constitutional balance. Our democracy will be poorer for it if these cuts proceed.”

[Enzedder]

All of this hassle for $20 pf. Just to win an election.

The biggest cock-up since the super scheme was closed in the early 80s.

[Gumboot]

Divide and conquer. Oldest call in the right wing's political playbook.

Shameless Uncle Tom Jones claiming an electoral mandate to fuck around with the wording of the Treaty for the next 3 years at potentially great social cost, with a pittance portion of the popular vote. Just such a venal dishonest wanker.

The immediate scrapping of our world-leading anti-tobacco initiatives, simply to finance their promised tax cuts. A massive hit to our international reputation for pursuing socially progressive policies.

Anti electric vehicle incentives. Anti Te Reo Maori. Anti Maori Health Authority...

Luxon's sold his soul to the devil, and his campaign claims that the incumbents were the "Coalition of Chaos" is going to come back and bite him in the arse.

[Gumboot]

Smokefree Aotearoa GOOONE!!

Thanks to "former" tobacco industry lobbyist Chris Bishop and his fellow quisling, Casey Costello.

This is just the start, and it's not getting any better...

[Guy Smiley]

We'll see in due course, naturally... but some of this government's rhetoric may well turn and bite them on the arse. The recent hui hosted by the Kiingitanga has had a galvanising effect within the Maori world and a sense of unity among various iwi has emerged that might be a little bit too much for the govt to handle... I found the linked article here to be both educational and optimistic...

Ngāpuhi, from across Te Tai Tokerau, don't traditionally follow the Kiingitanga.

The history is complex and Ngāpuhi's relationship with the Kiingitanga is nuanced. There are shades of difference among other iwi and hapū too.

But when the Kiingitanga movement was established in 1858 with the aim of providing a collective voice in negotiations with the British Crown, Ngāpuhi chose to represent themselves and have their own iwi and hapū motuhake. A firm independence of Ngāpuhi identity and opinion has persisted. They were not obliged to come to Ngaaruawaahia when the invitation of Kiingi Tuuheitia was issued in December last year.

So when Ngāpuhi arrived, it was with a sense of occasion.

It came as no surprise to anyone that Ngāpuhi were very well dressed, adorned in pounamu and bone taonga, iwi branded kākahu, pōtae, and woven wool blankets showcasing intricate Māori designs.

Not all uri of Ngāpuhi had come on the buses. Many had driven down from Tāmaki Makaurau, where it is estimated that some 60 percent of the 165,000 population of Ngāpuhi live.

Their kaikōrero, Hone Sadler, was dressed in a cream suit wielding a carved tokotoko.

Speaking to the crowd on the paepae, Matua Hone Sadler acknowledged Kiingi Tuuheitia and the relationship that the king has to Ngāpuhi.

"E te mokopuna ō Rāhiri, tēnei a Ngāpuhi, kua tae mai i runga i tō tono, nā reira, ka mihi nui atu rā."

("Descendant of Rāhiri, this is Ngāpuhi, who have arrived here at your request. Thank you very much.")

Specifically, he referenced Rāhiri, the tūpuna of Ngāpuhi, to acknowledge Kiingi Tuuheitia's whakapapa links to Ngāpuhi. The comment was met with laughs from many sitting on the pae.

Hone Sadler also spoke of Ngāpuhi's mātauranga (knowledge) of Te Tiriti and He Whakaputanga. It is what the iwi bring to the table in these national conversations, he said.

And Matua Hone is correct. Ngāpuhi are the kaitiaki and first signatories of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. They have consistently maintained that they never ceded sovereignty, a position now supported by the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal, and thousands of pages of evidence.

The stage two tribunal report on their Treaty claim was handed over to Ngāpuhi in December last year. More than 10 years in the making, the report is based on 26 weeks of hearings and more than 500,000 pages of evidence, relating to 415 individual Treaty claims.

To paint a clumsy broad brushstroke, I think a substantial element of the recent election result was down to what we could call an 'anti woke' sentiment... people fatigued out by the lockdowns and overall response to Covid identifying all sorts of 'Lefty' policies as the problem and voting (or not) accordingly, with Maori and Treaty issues prominent within that loose conglomeration of anger and hurt. Seymour's words could well galvanise that quiet slice of the populace who sympathise with Maori and Te Tiriti and unleash a sort of mirror 'anti Right' wave of sentiment... especially when we see the massive de-funding being inflicted o the public service in favour of what is easily labelled Landlord Tax Cuts.

The govt risk alienating too many with this talk of Treaty reframing and Luxon's speech the other day shows an awareness of that risk. He's in damage control with Waitangi Day looming. It's gonna be interesting to see how that pans out... both on the day itself and in the months to come.

[Enzedder]

I think Luxon has positioned himself to jump into either the boat or the waka.

He's a 2-faced wimp and will go with what he think the polls suggest, rather than what is right.

I will be protesting this long and hard to make this coalition a short one.

[Guy Smiley]

Agreed, he's trying to have a foot in each boot, so to speak.

I don't think Maori are going to allow him that luxury.

[Guy Smiley]

I found this article earlier while looking around the current govt's direction...(from last September)

No need to panic. That was the main message from yesterday’s opening of the government’s books – as we are compelled to call them, despite ledger books having gone the way of the dodo – in an event known as the Prefu, or pre-election fiscal update.

Notwithstanding talk of a “bloodbath” in the public accounts, the predictions were much the same as in May’s budget. No recession is expected. The economy will continue to grow at 2.6%, on average, over the next four years. Inflation will be back under 3% some time next year, and wages will easily outpace it. Unemployment will rise, but only to 5.4%, a below-average amount.

Government debt remains low by global and historical standards: it is expected to be just 21% of GDP by mid-2027, compared to 36% in Australia and 95% in Britain and the US. And while the cost of paying back that debt is rising, it is still very low – currently less than 1% of GDP, lower than it was at any point under the last National government (or indeed the two governments before that).

But if the Prefu delivered no short-term shocks, it was still a reminder that Labour has not solved the long-term problems that bedevil the economy. Four shortcomings stand out.

First, although the economy will perform adequately in coming years, its current softness results from the Reserve Bank deliberately weakening it in order to slow inflation. This is a reminder that the bank’s only real tool for combating inflation – raising the amount that it costs individuals and businesses to borrow money – is a blunt one, to put it mildly. New Zealand needs other ways to keep prices under control, including a much tougher approach to uncompetitive sectors – supermarkets, building supplies and banks all spring to mind – where raising prices is all too easy in the absence of serious competitors.

Second, the country’s economic prospects are being borne up by immigration: arrivals are at record levels, and a net 100,000 or so people arrived this year. Per-person economic growth and productivity will remain as bad as they have been for a long time. The Treasury notes, meanwhile, that immigrants will “help ease acute labour shortages”. Even people basically well-disposed to immigration may question the wisdom of bringing in people to fill labour shortages when so little is done to help the tens of thousands of already-resident New Zealanders who are work-ready but remain on the unemployment benefit. Other countries spend billions of dollars a year on high-quality skills and retraining programmes; apart from initiatives like Mana in Mahi, New Zealand does very little.
a background of cash with monopoly houses scattered on top, overlaid with a big red cross and a black and white image of Chris Hipkins


Third, the country continues to run current account deficits – importing more goods and services than it exports, often loosely described as “living beyond our means”. The deficit will be a large 8.1% of GDP this year, falling to 4.3% in 2027. The latter may be fairly standard for New Zealand, but it remains a worrying reminder that our economy does too little to earn our way in the world: too focused on exporting raw logs and milk powder, it still struggles to build innovative, sustainable companies.

Fourth, New Zealand has a long-term revenue problem. Although this government has not spent every dollar wisely, its expenses – set to be around 32% of GDP in coming years – are low compared to the European countries whose public services we often admire. The Germans spend more like 36% of GDP, the Dutch 38%, the Austrians 40%. And they get world-class services as a result. Our spending is not really the problem: our failure to raise enough tax revenue is. The projections of a surplus by 2027 rely on the annual allowance for new spending shrinking from the current $3.5 billion to just $1.6 billion in 2026 (once existing commitments are factored in).

As the Herald’s Thomas Coughlan has observed, new spending would – on these projections – not get back to this year’s level until 2037. There would be virtually no money for new initiatives, only – to use what seems to be the new term – enough “to keep the lights on”, in other words to compensate for inflation. That is obviously untenable, especially for Labour governments that tend to like new spending. And it is once again a reminder that, unless New Zealand starts to close the current loopholes in its tax system – the absence, for instance, of comprehensive taxes on capital gains, inheritances or wealth – it will struggle to afford the services that citizens in comparable countries enjoy.

Infuriating reading in light of the austerity policies being trotted out by the seriously short on talent Willis and co.

[Enzedder]

Just shows the level of bullshit that can be bandied about in the lead-up to elections.

Some idiots still believe that the country was on the way to the dogs and yet most Western countries would kill to be in our position.

[Gumboot]

Has there ever been a more disconnected or disoriented start to a so-called coalition than this?

They're heading in three directions at once, which can never end well.

[Gumboot]

Greenhorn legislators who lack experience but blame their underlings for their own ineptitude deserve everything they get...

[Gumboot]

Question for "tough on crime" Police Minister Mark Mitchell...

Why is this murderer Glenn McNeill now walking free on the streets of Christchurch?

[Guy Smiley]

Firstly, he's served his sentence. Emotions aside, that's how the justice system works... do the crime, do your time. He's done his.

Secondly, he's not completely free... he's wearing an ankle bracelet and is subject to monitoring and managing by the Dept of Corrections under our existing Returning Offenders Order.

[Guy Smiley]

This is a doozy...

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics ... ation.html

Associate Health Minister (NZF) Casey Costello denies asking for advice on suspending tax increases (excise) on tobacco products before documents emerge from her office directly discussing exactly that. In her arguments, the rookie MP claims she doesn't know who wrote them. The main talking points she is engaging in her arguments seem to be simply copied from Tobacco industry papers and she compares nicotine and caffeine as equally harmful. She claims the Tobacco industry is 'on its knees' and needs support.

[Gumboot]

Firstly, he's served his sentence. Emotions aside, that's how the justice system works... do the crime, do your time. He's done his.

Secondly, he's not completely free... he's wearing an ankle bracelet and is subject to monitoring and managing by the Dept of Corrections under our existing Returning Offenders Order.

Thanks, Mark.

[Guy Smiley]

Which Mark do you mean?

This is a nice bit of writing…

https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/01/29/an-in ... -onetangi/

[Gumboot]

Which Mark do you mean?

Question for "tough on crime" Police Minister Mark Mitchell...

Twas merely a childish dig at our useless twat of a Police Minister, who can't even get his recruitment numbers straight.

This new three-headed gummint is off to a great start, eh. Luxon looking sooo in control...

[Guy Smiley]

Ah

At first I wondered if my stunning prose had you confusing me with Mark Reason

and yes, the Coalition of Chaos is shaping up nicely.

[Gumboot]

More evidence of the coalition's deep links to the tobacco industry as Luxon admits his sister-in-law has worked as a "trade and marketing coordinator" at British American Tobacco NZ for the past 19 years.

Funny how he's never mentioned that before...

But there's nothing to see here as Luxon has declared he never discussed tobacco policy with her...

Bring on the Tui billboard!

Dodgy as fook.