A brief word on Key’s claims of ‘far left’ & his TPPA lies

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politicalcompassnz2011

Key is running around the media proclaiming that Cunliffe represents a move to the ‘far left’. If giving NZers dignity, worker rights & a socially just tax system is ‘far left’ what is pimping for casinos, flogging public assets and $2billion in tax cuts for the rich?

Labour are ‘far left’ the way Obamacare was ‘socialist’. I don’t think John Key understands what the words ‘left’ or ‘far’ mean.

Key says next election will be a battle of ideas, well sadly him, beyond crony capitalism & corporate welfare, he’s shit out of ideas.

When the US employment gap between rich and poor is the widest ever on record, questioning an economic system that empowers the wealthy while crushing the poor is not ‘far left’, it’s very mainstream.

What’s been most interesting this week was Cunliffe attacking Key on the TPPA. To date Labour have allowed Key to get away with this because quietly they agree with free trade, even if it robs us of economic sovereignty, Cunliffe however has to win the next election and he has a real mandate to go left, so he is refusing to play ball.

This is terrifying for Key because while his answer on Hansard reads like this…

Rt Hon JOHN KEY : Let me reaffirm what I said earlier. Firstly, New Zealand is not going to sign up to any free-trade agreement, and that includes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, unless it is in New Zealand’s interest to do that. Secondly, the major provisions within the Trans-Pacific Partnership are currently being worked through. The third thing I would say is that the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as the member may or may not be aware, is a negotiated agreement between 12 different economies. In one of the pieces of research I saw recently, it is estimated that it could be worth between $2 billion to $4 billion a year for the New Zealand economy. So I would say that that is fairly strong evidence that it well may be in New Zealand’s interest to do the deal.

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…so while Key is promising $2-$4 billion, the reality from a leaked wikileak cable says the absolute opposite…

“Chief Negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership Mark Sinclair emphasized that it has been a long-held objective of the Government of New Zealand to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States, and there is a public perception that getting into the United States will be an “el Dorado” for New Zealand’s commercial sector. However, the reality is quite different, said Sinclair, since the United States is already quite open to New Zealand trade and investment. He underscored that New Zealand needs to manage expectations in this regard.”

CLASSIFIED BY: Robert Clarke, DCM, Department of State, US Embassy Wellington; REASON: 1.4(B), (D)

…the TPPA isn’t a trade agreement, it’s a national security leash America is trying to wrap around our economic throats to counter Chinese economic power in the Pacific. By attacking it, Cunliffe can reassert the national sense of independence that shaped Lange’s leadership.

I’d even go as far to suggest he look at taking the Spokesperson for Trade Negotiations portfolio to reinforce this.

Cunliffe has done more for Labour in 3 days of media as leader than Shearer managed in 20months, the ABCs have some explaining to do.

21 COMMENTS

  1. Bomber, I think your graph leaves a bit to be desired.

    Where’s NZF?

    Aren’t the Greens in the wrong position?

    With their recent crimping on the right of members to forward policy, the Greens are much more authoritarian (and Right) than you depict them.

    I also wonder about the placement of the Progressive Party, is it really that far left?

    • This graphic isn’t from Bomber, it’s from PoliticalCompass.org via my blog (cf. filenames). It was made in the lead-up to the 2011 election which means recent developments in the Greens aren’t taken into account, and Mana’s position should be taken with a massive grain of salt. NZF aren’t there because I guess the graph was done before they made their post-teapot-gate comeback.

      The methodology of the test and the graph are obviously limited and flawed in serious ways, but it does clearly show that (historically and globally) National and Labour are both considerably more right wing than Key’s designations. So that’s why I used the graphic and I suppose why Martyn did too.

    • What is this “recent crimping on the right of [Green] members to forward policy”? I haven’t heard anything like this and would like to know more. Please explain and/or post links to further information. Thanks.

  2. The TPPA will be disastrous for NZ as it will be for every other country that signs… except corporate America of course. The very notion that US corporations could sue the NZ Government for damages if we decide not to allow their goods into this country for safety reasons (e.g. ANYTHING that Monsanto produces) should be offensive to EVERY NZer.

    • Is that true? Will this be an open door for Monsanto? With the cross-contamination of crops and Bovine Growth Hormone issues around the world, we are rapidly becoming one of the last truly non-GMO agricultures in the world.

      It would be a crime to ruin that for greed.

      But…. I guess that’s the new norm now.

      Sad!

  3. The compass not Bomber’s fault.

    Their methodology is flawed. I’ve contacted these “political scientists” many times about how the lack of true far left questions (no private property, government should own and control all the means for production, etc) in their test means their entire continuum is pulled left on the horizontal axis. If these questions were included to be properly rejected, the Greens should be just a tick to right of centre, and National and ACT are even further right, off in loony corporate utopia land.

    So far, politicalcompass.org seem relaxed and comfortable about this misepresentation.

  4. The graph is extremely flawed, there is no information about about who input the answers (but I believe it was the owners of the website – who aren’t NZers), what understanding they have of NZ politics and how they answered.
    It’s flawed to the point of meaningless

  5. …So Bomber, have you any hair left after reading these comments you have received in response to this article?

    Cos I would have thought quibbling over that the graph was a mere detail compared to the brilliant message you were relaying about

    “questioning an economic system that empowers the wealthy while crushing the poor is not ‘far left’, it’s very mainstream.”

    …and then there is the TPPA too; a very important issue.

    Thanks, I think you have real insight into dealing with obnoxious Nat-spin.

    Keep up the great work!

    • Thank you BL, I thought it was hilarious that a bullshit graph which was purposely selected to be as absurd as Key’s claim that Labour are ‘Far Left’ has generated so much comment.

      You can lead a person to a blog, but you can’t make them read.

      You have restored my faith BL.

  6. When our Nation’s PM tells blatant lies ,
    Then you just KNOW that he does NOT have citizens interests in mind, and we’re in deep shit as a nation, and our nation has been “hijacked”.

    The timely & important Documentary “Mind the Gap” exposes the exact nature of this “hijacking”

    The hugest problem, BTW , is the way the Media has been similarly “hijacked”.
    The Media, whose job it once was to act as Public Watchdog, now fails at this, and worse, they largely represent “Right” type thinking,
    and influencing the public.
    Thus as consequence, public choose wrong government,wrong policies.

    “Right” thinking is actually Wrong.
    -Because it is born of limited life experience and tends to view life in black & white. Simplistically.
    Life is NOT simple. Problems have Multiple issues

    People who have an “easy” life,
    (eg the financially privileged)
    those who have never struggled with mental health issues,
    those who lacked proper input from parent(s)-never having had “empathy” demonstrated, instilled in them (eg perhaps our own P.M.) …these are the people most likely to rise to “success” by today’s Commerce driven-(False values/Anti humanitarian life)

    =THESE are the people who end up in Positions of Power.
    -Who call the shots. Make the policies . Rules.
    These are the people who view life too simplistically & resort to Blame & Punishment, then inflict it on society via their Rules/ Policies
    These are the people who end up seeing social problems as being “self created” by the individual.
    These.. are the people who call for more prisons.

    These are the people who Blame the Poor .

    This kind of thinking , in this day & age (21st Century) is BACKWARD. Devolving humanity.

    – It is in fact the sole reason for our current demise, of NZ country of plenty for everybody –
    .. Now
    Showing a disgraceful inexcusable, unconscionable yawning wide gap of gross inequality.
    Inequality= People suffering……..vs people on obscene/ unjustifiable (in terms of human worth) Salaries.

    In NZ NO ONE SHOULD BE SUFFERING!
    It’s Because Wrong people/ Wrong mentalities in POWER.

    (Sorry Martyn, your posts always SO on the Button, I get carried away. But its all true!!!)

    • (…”these are the people most likely to rise to positions of success”
      -Correction, I meant to say, most likely to rise to ..positions of POWER.)

      • oops..(re above) just repeated unneccessarily.
        But ..to reiterate, …Wrong People/ Mentality in Power.
        Includes today’s Media, since they have all the power to influence the public. And they do so in unfair/ unbalanced way.
        Therefore they are biggest obstruction to a true democracy.
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__2EdGFdgTA
        For those who missed Mind the Gap. ..Must See!

  7. I used to teach governance and business basics to community groups and one thing I learnt is graphs like the one above can confuse people, a lot people. Especially those without the appropriate education and work/business experience. It’d be fair to say more than a few of Labour’s voters belong to this group. So, it would be great if terms and concepts like right wing, left wing, neoliberalism–terms that are thrown about with gay (the emotion, not sexual orientation) abandonment in this ‘politisphere’, were explained in plain easy-to-understand English. Otherwise, unless the reader studied politics, law and business or enjoys reading Karl Marx or John Locke in their spare time–they’re likely to miss the point. No need to give John Key any unnecessary advantages.

  8. “Let me reaffirm what I said earlier. Firstly, New Zealand is not going to sign up to any free-trade agreement, and that includes the Trans-Pacific Partnership, unless it is in New Zealand’s interest to do that. “

    There is zero reason to believe a single word uttered by John Key – or his cronies.

    Ditto for Collins, when she said this about passing on sensitive informative to the Amerikan regime;

    Justice Minister Judith Collins has moved quickly to quash worries that people’s DNA will be passed to the United States as part of a data exchange agreement between the two countries.

    Under the ‘Enhancing Co-operation in Preventing and Combating Crime’ agreement the two countries could exchange fingerprints, DNA and other personal information related to serious crime, particularly terrorism.

    The treaty includes safeguards to ensure personal information is not abused.

    Even though DNA is specifically mentioned in the treaty, Ms Collins says it’s not part of the deal.

    “That won’t happen, I mean that’s talked about in, I think, Article 4 of the treaty but Article 5 also goes on to say that it’s all got to be in accordance with New Zealand law as well, our domestic law, so that won’t be happening.”

    Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/222025/collins-moves-to-reassure-nzers-about-dna-exchange

    National’s track record is one of lies, disinformation, and broken promises. Only their most sycophantic followers maintain trust in Key and his cronies.

    When an 18 year old check-out operator at a supermarket discloses that she thinks Key is untrustworthy and her colleague says Key’s body language reveals him to be a liar – you know that the Nats are on borrowed time.

    Watch Key’s popularity plummet in the coming months.

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