Jacinda is back and has stamped her authority on regaining the narrative for the Labour, NZ First and Green Government.
This isn’t such a difficult job to achieve when you consider the bumbling efforts of Simon Bridges who has managed to sound confused and weak on everything from the environment to the ridiculous response to his costs being released a few days early.
Stringing basic sentences together makes Jacinda look competent in comparison to Bridges over the last week, but she even given that low threshold, she is soaring with 3 recent decisions.
New major infrastructure body: As the market once again begins to fail and construction companies collapse, Shane Jones has stepped into help manage the need for large infrastructure. This is a huge announcement that most pundits haven;t managed to get their heads around. NZ First are convinced an economic armageddon is around the corner and Winston’s decision to go with Labour was born out of a gnawing hatred of neoliberalism that actually ends up making his wider economic vision far more left wing than Labour’s own. This announcement is a giant leap towards Government regaining sovereignty over the free market and its fun scope hasn’t been appreciated by the wider political punditry. We will see its full muscle once the economic crash kicks off.
1800 new cops: Nothing makes muddle Nu Zilind happier than cops. Lots of cops. Huge numbers of cops and Stuart Nash has managed in one move to overcome the never ending madness of the Wally Haumaha fiasco by simply throwing 1800 new cops into the system. No one knows where these cops will come from and no one knows what they will do and there are real question marks over having all these extra cops when serious crime is tumbling but none of that matters because all people hear is MORE COPS.
Freezing MP salaries: The deep seated hatred most NZers have towards MPs and their supposed luxuries and taxpayer funded troughing is as inexplicable as why we all seem to think Rugby is the highest of cultural achievements. News that Jacinda is freezing MP salaries will make Kiwis feel happier without any real explanation of why they are so bent out of shape about MPs in the first place. Being an MP is actually a bloody difficult job and the fact that most NZers have no comprehension whatsoever of what they do is an indictment on our collective general knowledge. The negative egalitarianism that plagues this country as a tall poppy syndrome can’t be challenged or changed, so better to play to it than against it.
What these announcements really show is that Jacinda has a sense of where muddle Nu Zilind is and what makes muddle Nu Zilind happy:
- The State stepping in when the market has failed and hurts lots of tradies
- Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of cops
- MPs not feeding heartily at the taxpayer trough
These 3 could almost become incorporated into the NZ anthem, so deep is their resonance. The reason the right wing troll farm at the NZ Herald are so anti Jacinda’s idea of a MP wage freeze is because they know it appeals to their voting block and she’s snookered them.
The lack of traction over the time Jacinda has been away has been overcome within weeks of her being back. She is a phenomenon and if National are serious about beating her, they best not underestimate her ability to pacify their voting block while appealing to her own.
Hollow posturing
How depressing.
Is pandering to the so called ‘soft ‘National, waivering Labour voter really ‘reclaiming the narrative’? It seems to be more ‘propping up’ the crappy narrative.
And as for these extra police…which ever way Nash wants to spin it, extra police means more arrests, means more prisoners, means more recidivism, means, in fact, more victims, no matter how much you tweak the justice system.
btw chasing the ‘soft’ national voters didn’t exactly deliver a resounding win to Labour in the election, so why are they still adhering to this narrative?
We cannot afford the rich.
Go on about Tall Poppy Syndrome all you want but that’s just attempting to deny reality and that’s something that we simply cannot do.
There’s even a great book about why we can’t afford them:
Another, newer book explains how capitalism actively constrains freedom:
So, yeah, time to stop using the capitalists lies to promote more capitalism and removal of the majority of people’s freedom.
Agree that Jacinda is doing very well and is well ahead of Simon B.
However disagree that they new policies are well received. Firstly the New major infrastructure body is a piece of crap announcement which is pretty much announcing the sale of NZ, so if middle NZ had any idea of what it was about, aka selling our workers down he line and getting into the hock with foreign banks, which they probably don’t, they would hate it. When MSM is excited and say how great it is should be the first warning, it is bad news for everybody else including Labour.
The construction industry is one of heaving dysfunctional pillar of neoliberalism, Rogernomics policy and un sustainability.
Construction’s inability to actually bother to train their own workers, use quality materials and have any inkling of risk management as well as inability to treat workers adequately enough to retain them, combined with their whinning and wah wah to government at every step to support them as they fuck up another leaky building, fail to follow any sort of procedure and still manage to lose millions while not actually getting anything built on time or to spec is legendary.
The new idea of getting the Asians in may be the answer, cheaper labour, cheaper materials and hopefully when the bridges start falling down or the asbestos comes to light and it looks like it’s end of life after a decade, they hope they will be long gone like the Kiwi’s in the construction industry?
The only smart thing from Labour, is to get NZ First to announce the New major infrastructure body, maybe a private F-U to Shane Jones, who didn’t notice. No wonder NZ First is polling so low.
The next announcement of 1800 new police is actually probably good news, when your house is burgled, or you are beaten up by your partner, it might be nice to know somebody from the police may turn up eventually even if it is outside of 7-4pm office hours. A recent complaint for example of a restaurant owner who gets burgled monthly in Helensville as the local police shut doors at 4pm. Helensville is apparently next to west Auckland for P manufacture so possibly helpful to anyone who lives there, not on P, to have a police less than 40 minutes drive away after 4pm?
No wonder Northland got to the basket case it sounds like if Helensville policing is normal maybe also with the Methcon scams being led by ex police. Again Jacinda’s small town policing knowledge from her childhood is probably sound.
Pity they have Nash, who might screw it up. But hey it’s a start.
With Little, actually capturing the crims then rehabilitating them rather than throwing them in prison, maybe they will get safer streets?
As for freezing MP’s salaries, clearly that’s a winner!
Wage earners earn less in real terms than 30 years ago for gods sake, it is about time the MP’s get a taste of reality (if only they could reduce it to a 30 year old wage like the construction industry tradies have to deal with, aka a stopper who used to get $20p/h 20 years ago, now has to deal with $20p/h foreign workers plus the illegals who don’t have to pay taxes but still the construction industry whine about the skills shortage!
If the government said to construction “Pay up cheapskates and get people who do a decent days work with decent trained qualified people who know what they are doing and stop screwing the public and ratepayers”, it might be a more appreciated line than “NZ is open for foreign business”.
Who ever thinks that’s a winner probably has been advising labour for the last 9 years and ex Rogernomics… just wait for the capital gains taxes to come back for locals, (richer multinationals don’t have to worry about pesky things like that with their creative accounting) to punch labour out again.
So I’m not sure that Labour have won with these policies, the devil is in the detail and Labour better keep an eye on the neoliberals within their party calling the shots.
The more beneficial thing to Labour, is the announcement that interest rates might come down or at least be static. Now that is something middle NZ in particular, Aucklander’s will be pleased about.
Seems a shame thats shes the only adult in the party, just keep the election promises lass thats all you gotta do, that alone puts you light years ahead of your rivals, the whole country needs medical cannabis to chill the fudge out, close your ears to the demi-gogs and chemical pushing Pharmaceutical industries, check the research its fantastic and we are being left behind and farmed for company profits.
How bad is it when the Aussys are more progressive than we are SHAME i say SHAME, them 1800 new fuzz balls can be put to good use stamping out P, start drug testing Farmers you will be surprised at the results. Remember that poison is expensive, ask yerself whos funding it, watch Max Kaiser on FB for info on the Banksters and their dirty low down tactics
So far more symbolic little gestures all over the place, that is what I observe.
There is NOTHING that will fundamentally change the status quo system we have, one of greedy capitalism, of mass consumerism, of high level pollution and wastage.
They have not even decided yet which plastic bags may be banned, that is still under consultation.
Other countries moved years ago, and the plastic bag issue is just one of hundreds of issues, there are much greater things that need to be done and changed.
And what is the use of a new infrastructure body or ministry, when they will continue importing cheap foreign labour to build the homes, roads and train infrastructure and so forth, while there is a huge shortage of available local workers with the skills needed.
A shambles, left by Nats, and little steps may be needed at first, they are nearly a year in office now, greater steps are needed.
But as the people are not going to change much, those are the ones that vote governments, the hands of politicians remain tied to maintaining the status quo as much as possible, as people will not want to give up quickly their fossil fuel addiction and consumerism.
Re major infrastructure projects, I see many PPPs, some with large overseas companies who will build stuff here, and they will also bring many of their own workers.
So this may boost GDP, but will not stop NZ Inc’s dependence on relatively cheap immigrant labour and overseas investment any time soon.
Meanwhile, those additional workers will need to be housed also, and they will want their own transport, hence buy cars that will contribute to traffic congestion and pollution.
We remain addicted to growth, we still have it, once Winston’s Armageddon may come, there will be no growth, only in some few areas, like perhaps construction, but that alone will not save the economy as it is.
Add the high level of investment happening over coming years, much borrowed money paying for this, it will have to be paid for. I fear we will get the same ‘solutions’ that Auckland Council and its Mayor offer us, grow the population to ‘shoulder the burden’, but by that also creating the massive additional infrastructure and resources scarcity for future generations to follow.
Just all a continuation of the NZ Inc Ponzi Scheme.
It was funny to hear Guyon Espiner puffing and blowing about the extra police on Morning Report a few days ago.
Espiner demanded to know how many more prisoners it would lead to, and when told that this was not actually the point – the police presence was to DETER crime rather than punish it – he pretended not to understand and effected a phony outrage – why are you bothering blah blah blah…..?
Right wing attitude: Surely the whole point of the police and justice system is to catch more crims so you can punish a whole lot more, right?
The correct attitude: Er…no, the point is to deter crime in the first instance thus reducing the need for punishment.
Right wing attitude: Mongo no understand…..
I wish I hadn’t pressed the Mike Hosking link, but then I did it, and read it, and Jebus he’s as out of touch with the average NZer as ever. Does anyone actually seriously listen to his message? He comes across like a lame caricature of neo-liberalism. Like a town crier in a jester hat.
“News that Jacinda is freezing MP salaries will make Kiwis feel happier without any real explanation of why they are so bent out of shape about MPs in the first place.”
May be we feel the results of 30 years of neo-liberalism indicates poor performance.
I think its more the impression that they are lining their pockets and doing deals for high paying jobs after there term expires thats got us hating on politicians with good cause, we just got rid of a PM that shorted the nzd for 40mil profit, id call that treason, they call it good business. “there are non so blind as those that will not see”
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