The howls of indignation at Russel Norman comparing John Key to Muldoon were long and never ending. The amusement of Hooten and Farrar attacking Norman’s comparison when both of them have built careers comparing Helen Clark to Muldoon shouldn’t be missed either.
It looks however that Russel Norman wins. Key’s outburst yesterday where he effectively threatens the funding of the Human Rights Commission for attacking the GCSB law reforms is something even Muldoon may have thought twice about articulating…
“”I actually don’t think it was a very good submission at all, and they need to pull their socks up. If they’re going to continue to be a government-funded organisation they should meet the deadlines like everyone else did.”
Muldoon specifically used divisiveness to hold onto power, Key has used the exact same divisiveness but aimed it at beneficiaries rather than Springbok Tour protesters. This Governments harsh reforms against the poor are in stark contrast to the $400m they annually hand back in tax cuts to the wealthiest NZers.
The NBR saw 150 of the richest families increase their wealth by $7billion while 270 000 children live beneath the poverty line. Add to this our assets being sold to just 2.5% of the country, and it is becoming blindingly clear that National are Government for the 1%, by the 1% in the interests of the 1%.
Our Human Rights Commission is one of the few watchdogs protecting our civil rights. For them to come out with such damning criticism and to then have Key make a veiled public threat regarding their funding is chilling, especially when the Government are currently eyeing up taking a cost-cutting scalpel to the HRC.
We are increasingly having our civil rights as citizens watered down and at some point New Zealanders must push back. Watching the PM pimp for a Casino and oversee the fastest increase in inequality than most other developed nations is bad enough but watching him threaten to cut funding to our largest human rights watchdog for calling out the terrible damage to our civil liberties he is attempting to push through is simply a step too far.
This is ‘center-right’ only if Caligula is the center.
We should all be concerned. As well as criticism from the HRC Key has taken a broadside this morning from Dame Anne Salmond (see NZ Herald 13 July). And Labour won’t wind back the damage to rights and freedoms that Key has led. Labour themselves were responsible for many. The Greens with some real political power in their sights haven’t been able to withstand the mainstream pressure. Russel Norman has blown his chance to be really different and grasp de-growth as a real alternative to neo-lib selfish growth based capitalism. The only real alternative now is Hone. Mana is our last chance. Will they be able to handle it?
The Prime Monster says, and I quote, “Actually the bill narrows the GCSB’s scope in its current form, it doesn’t extend it.” How can be possibly justify this? Doesn’t allowing GCSB to spy on residents (instead of only foreigners) extend the scope? In what way does the bill narrow it?
Key should be removed from office for telling such blatant lies in public.
Key has had a dream run with all the mainstream media
sucking up to him
He is such a flake
How can anyone make as much money as he has
Without making things or creating wealth and be totally
true. He has such a bad memory doesn’t he
The sooner he leaves for his own country the better
Not hard to beat Muldoon. He wasn’t a ruthless banker. If only kiwis found out before the last election how Don (I mean John) was on the verge of bringing down the NZ economy prior to becoming a politician.
Absolutely agree. Don’t forget Charter Schools too. The Govt is systematically destroying the public’s belief in our teachers and education system (which is looked up to world wide) so they can steal it, use our taxes to run it, but still privatise it. This is a deliberate plan used in USA, Sweden and now UK. Look it up…called GERM. Twenty years of dire failure. Huge rebellion in the states now as businesses destroy kid’s love of learning in favour of constant testing and of course no time for PE, Art, music etc. They also throw kids out just before final testing if they think they will fail that year. The Maori Party support it because they want to “give it a try.” Pity they didn’t do their homework. Save our Schools NZ good site.
Key has already displayed arrogance and contempt for the Human Rights Commision and it’s concerns this year. In March this year, the HRC Commissioner, David Rutherford, raised his serious concern with the government about decisions relating to the decisions in Christchurch made on bare land property owners and the serious financial impact on the families involved. Rutherford was also concerned about the general peoples predicament and housing issues. This was done both in writing and in person, yet Key, along with his Bagman, Gerry Brownlee,completely ignored the issues. Key, Brownlee and the government were not held to account on this ignoring of serious matters. Like spoilt children Key and his government got away with it, so this current poor behaviour is no surprise.
Norman was attacked by a pack of “scoffers” who howled that not only was he too young to remember Muldoon, he’s actually an Australian, god forbid! as if either of these was enough validation for his claims being outlandish.
I use the word “scoff” on purpose as that is one of the prime characteristics of John Key and those that like him. They are king’s of the (vacuous) put down, a primary weapon of the ignorant.
I heard what Key actually said was “If they’re going to continue to be a government-funded organisation, they should understand they’re going to be made redundant and replaced with retired athletes and sports personalities like everyone else has.”
John Key doesn’t care about the people of NZ, and he’s proven himself to be unprincipled.
But sadly this is perhaps a reflection of the people of our nation today, that they tolerate the unacceptable, ie: such obviously undesirable traits in a PM..one supposed to be a “leader”. A “leader” of what? A leader of an economic system, but not human beings.
NZers today are merely regarded as “human resources” to feed the “Economy” (=the wealthy). And they haven’t even noticed.
(It’s not for no reason that Gordon McLaughlen wrote his book about NZers calling them “passionless people”, & “smiling zombies” .)
I truly feel despair. NZers don’t seem to care much about anything enough, they are like a nation of sheep. By the time they wake up , if they do at all, it will be too late.
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