After being tricked into standing in East Coast Bays because he was led to believe a deal with National was possible, you would think Colin Craig would throw the towel in after being so cleverly trapped by John Key.
Gleefully he is not.
Colin has decided that the promised land is 5% and that he will aim for that instead. His attack on the sale of Lochinver Station is NZ First territory and for Progressives, the idea of watching NZ First and the Conservative Party ripping each other to pieces will be a treat if it keeps them both under 5%.
Colin has raised several million for this election, let’s hope that money is enough to divide the conservative vote in NZ.
In terms of Winston, I actually think Patrick Gower has it right on this. The rise of Internet MANA has been far larger than many expected and its rise has spooked the Winston Peter’s horse. Winston’s weasel words would allow a Green-Labour-NZ First Government with supply and confidence from Internet MANA but Winston knows his conservative older voters wouldn’t agree to that.
NZ First have to look like they might still go with Labour to keep their political leverage up, but if the meme becomes a vote for Winston is a vote for National, the momentum for a change of Government will flow away from NZ First and Winston will be left to scrap it out with Colin for the Conservative vote.
Unluckily for Winston, Colin intends to get a pound of flesh for his being duped, and if it means robbing National of NZ First as a coalition partner without getting the Conservative Party into Parliament, so be it.
I could have told you the likelihood of Key doing a deal with Craig was unlikely weeks ago when I was reading you saying that Key was in so much trouble he would have to do one. Key is a recognised dealer, knows better than anyone when and when not to do them. Deals go hand in hand with strategies and Key’s ability in this area is way ahead of anyone else and is probably what will win him the election. Matt McCarten would do well to take note.
I believe we are going to see some real fancy antics now that the Conservatives are going to contest Epsom, what’s the bet they will have a go at Ohariu as well. This looks like the actions of a scorned lover – Goodness me the rich boys are at war!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Come on Colin! You are a stand-up man so stop being a stand-alone guy and throw your lot in with the Internet/Mana Party. Better hurry; time waits for no-one and the election is coming up fast…
I’m not a fan of either Winston Peters or Colin Craig, particularly the latter, because of his strict religious views, which influence his policy making.
However, I give it to Craig for taking an opportunity in addressing Grey Power, a huge voting force, straying into Winston’s territory of immigration and foreign ownership of land, using the recent sale of the Lockinver Station, as fresh evidence to support his statements.
After being rejected by Key in ECB, Craig saw an opening and grabbed it, quick! This one was there for the taking, so he dived in, honing in on Winston’s main support base Grey Power, reinforcing Winston’s policies.
Winston now has some serious competition in Craig. Bet he’s not a happy chappy, having the Conservative leader “playing in his park, with his friends” now!
I’d be somewhat hesitant in voting for NZ First (not that I ever would), because a vote for Winston I’m sure will become a vote for National.
We will just have to wait and see I guess. It will be all about which party comes up with the most lucrative deal for Winston, before he decides. That deal just might also include perhaps the Speaker’s job and/or a knighthood for the wily old bugger!
I’m hoping Labour will be able to govern, with enough coalition support from NZ Greens and Internet Mana alone. But NZ First just might be needed to form a government. Then watch Winston do a complete turn around (on “race based” parties) and go with the left, depending if the “goodies” offered are to his satisfaction!
As much as I dislike Criag and the conservatives, I’m glad he has made an issue of the land sales, that would have been one story the Nats would have been happy to see off the headlines double quick.
I don’t trust Peters.
Many of his promises and rhetoric are a repeat of the 1996 general election – and we all remember how that ended.
Peters’ assertion he walked out on the Cabinet is not wholly accurate.
As Treasurer, Peters allowed the government’s shares in Auckland Airport to be privatised. In fact, he called it a chance for ordinary NZers to own a part of their own asset. Sound familiar?
It was only when the public opposition grew against a repeat of Wellington’s Airport that Peters was spooked and backed away from supporting the sale.
As for buying back the powercos? Peters promised to “hand back the cheque” for the Kaingaroa forest cutting rights if he became part of any government.
Well, that never happened either.
I might be wrong. Perhaps Peters has learnt his lesson. But I’ll reserve judgement when I see what he does post 20 September.
I warn all that hope for this scenario to come true. Colin Craig seems real desperate now, and is going into territory he has not dared to step into as yet.
He is not quite up front with us, as he really had hoped that the Nats would let him win an electorate, such as East Coast Bays. He is really disappointed now, although he pretends the opposite.
Craig and his Cons have tried last election, he tried to run for mayor, he already spent millions, and he does not want to have spent all this in vain, as his frugal business approach forces him to get some “results” after all. That will mean the most aggressive advertising and promotional campaign they can afford and deliver. Wait for more stunts and surprise announcements, catching the moment.
As he and his party loyalists realise now, they MUST win 5 percent of the vote, so he will do ALL possible to achieve this. The good thing is, this will likely eat into some of the traditional National Party voter base, where some are disillusioned with Key. The perhaps bad thing is, it may steal votes off NZ First, who may after all prove necessary, should Labour and Greens not get quite enough votes between themselves.
Although there is the danger of Winston now going with the Nats, we can still not rule out some deal with the Greens, so that NZ First will support a Labour Greens alliance of sorts.
Labour and Greens may prefer NZ First to Mana Internet, for more stability and for looking less compromising to the Dotcom funded party.
But if Colin Craig pulls himself together, and uses all tricks he can use, he may get his troopers across the 5 percent line, and that may create a worst case scenario, where Key may after all do a deal with them, and then we get mad right wing policies with the already nasty neoliberal type right wing policies, all mixed together.
This is a challenge for Labour and Greens, to get their program shaped up, to run an aggressive, convincing campaign, and win more votes, so all these other options may not need to be looked at.
Re my earlier statement – read John Armstrong and all is revealed.
[…] playing a long game here, he’s accepted that he’s been snookered for the 2014 election, but he will steal NZ First policy and ideas to sink them under 5% and now is running Christine Rankin in Epsom to kill off […]
[…] playing a long game here, he’s accepted that he’s been snookered for the 2014 election, but he will steal NZ First policy and ideas to sink them under 5% and now is running Christine Rankin in Epsom to kill off […]
Comments are closed.