Verity Johnson has articulated a feeling many people who voted Labour in 2017 and 2020 are now feeling.
Politically homeless.
I know exactly how she is feeling.
I look at the massive transfer of wealth too the richest NZers.
I see the 200 000 kids in poverty.
25 000 on emergency housing wait lists.
50 000 households in poverty.
The mental health crisis.
The housing crisis.
The cost of living crisis.
The environmental crisis.
I see all those crises and I see very little traction from a Labour Party who constantly get out played by a Public Service who want all the power and none of the responsibility of service delivery.
I see a woke activist base who act more like a cult protecting dogma than agents of progressive change.
I see a Green Party that is next to fucking hopeless on anything other than the delivery of woke empty gestures welded to their own middle class pretensions.
I set up the MANA Party is an attempt to force Labour in to making genuine economic change because I couldn’t stand the incremental mediocrity that passed as Helen Clarks 9 years in power.
I look at the political landscape now and feel utterly homeless as a citizen and a voter.
The material issues that truly matter have been dumped in favour of middle class identity politic virtue signals that are parroted by the Twitter mob and anyone who breathes differently gets cancelled.
Predictably they have gone after Verity with all the glee of Putin beating up Ukrainian children.
Rather than cancel Verity Johnson, shouldn’t the Left try and work out why we lost her?
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Dumb arses happily vote against their own interests, which is how National party propaganda succeeds in getting their votes. Happens every election, and it is getting worse as our dumbed down education system grinds on, producing more and more guaranteed ignoramuses.
Oh yeah, cos Labour have really looked after them. Sounds like a Tui ad.
garibaldi. Point taken. The plural of ignoramus is ignorami.
True GA, it’s a long time since I did Latin!
Garibaldi – Apologies, looks like I’m wrong. I was going Latin too, but I googled it after correcting you, and see that apparently it can now be either. I hope that I didn’t hurt your feelings.
garibaldi. Point taken. The plural of ignoramus is ignorami.
Totally agree.
Why don’t you set up the Renters’ Party?
I’m in. Who’s house?
One of Luxon’s…
I actually think Verity should be applauded in the sense that she is not one of those tribal a*holes that will vote for the same party/wing no matter what. It might be a bit flippant to essentially say ‘yeah, yeah global pandemic not many died here we get it’ but we are all a bit over it.
I would ask her though what she has heard from Luxon that will actually change the main drivers of her disappointment. His state of the nation was pretty clear that he won’t help.
If the main reason she is going to vote National is that she feels deceived by a sense of hope, that vanished, then it is hard to argue with her
Before the Labour movement, western parliaments tended to consist of conservative and liberal parties (literally, in case of the UK). They represented the two basic wings of the elite viewpoint. The arrival of Labour parties in parliament changed all that but now most Labour parties occupy the position of the old Liberal parties. Maybe we should ask our Labour party to change their name.
Who, I wonder, is going to find a way to represent the voters who have been left behind? It will require a genuine grassroots movement – has anybody got Matt McCarten’s number?
Oh Verity, what a great turn of phrase- ‘a Care Bear with a jackhammer’, love it !!
but, but, but you’re not related to Boris, are you? (asking for a friend)
How could you feel like Verity – you’re not trans are you? Or do you slip on some pearls after hours Martyn.?
The truth, the whimsical truth please.
Good article.
I cannot reward a party as useless as Labour nor as nasty as National. Both are shit for different reasons that do not compliment each other and both do nothing to address the many serious issues we face in NZ
What is it with the Labour cabinet brains trust that they are so blind to the damage they’ve done to their party by doing nothing?
The one slither of light for Labour is the decisive action taken with public transport fares. Ironically and very accidentally Jacinda just did more for her long since dead objectives on climate change in sheer poll driven desperation than 4 years of inaction. The question is why did it take this long?
The truth is.. Labour never expected to qin the 2017 election. They were not ready as a lot of thier best had left during multiple leadership challenges.
When they turned up for work they looked to the public service to get them up to speed but unfortunatly they have grown accustomed to the ease of doing what they are told by public services.
Look at Sepoloni. She exudes capitulation to winz managers and has done from the start.
Megan woods is just as bad. When you live in a bubble of people telling you its all good (because that makes their jobs easier) you suddenly believe the bulshit because it makes you feel like you are winning.
There is no other option but to disband the current labour party as it stands and rebuild it with people who have drive to address the problems and the guts to stand up for what they want to achieve.. and most of all be prepared to punish poor performance from MP’s down to middle management (lower than that are just sheep doing as they are directed) with meaningful consequences. As it stands bonuses are part of employment contracts and are given as a matter of course. Thats not a bonus. Thats a salary, so why try if you are going to get it anyway weather you do good.. or bad. It should be.. If you achieve you get X but if you fail you lose X from base salary. Otherwise why the hell are we paying these clowns twice (in some cases 3 or 4 times.. or more) what we pay the people we vote for. Its almost criminal.
Do I think this will happen? NO i don’t, so how can i do what i’ve done my whole life and continue to vote labour. There has to be a limit.. and i’ve reached it.
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It seems we are ALL in need of psychiatric help. (disclaimer: i will never vote national so I’m not saying they have won me.. I’m saying labour has lost me) Don’t tell my mum..
100percent right kim
today it came out that for 4 years….I’ll just let that sink in 4 fuckin years wellington water have not been adding flouride (forget the flouridation debate not relevant to this point) to water supplies which they kept secret…it’s not what the additive is, it’s the fact that they willfully kept another wellington water failure a secret from the public for 4 fuckin years.
Labour – arrogant, self-interested, manipulative, bereft of political or personal integrity to their job, uncaring of principles of service to the people, repressive of MPs with old Labour values, dismissive of government direct action with everything being channelled through the business interests du jour.
Green – description of the fungus growing off this former environmental and vaguely left activist party.
National – arrogant, self-interested, manipulative, bereft of political or personal integrity to their job, uncaring of principles of service to the people, repressive of MPs with old National values, dismissive of government direct action with everything being channeled through the business interests du jour.
ACT – description of the fungus growing off this former liberal and Massively right activist party.
And it goes on, and on, and on …
Its times like this that make me really regret the fact that The Alliance was wound up.
Let’s face it: basically all our politicians are self serving wastes of space. I can’t think of one single politician in NZ (or globally) I have any resect for.
They are worse than useless. Do you ever wonder how so many politicians get so wealthy given their salaries? makes you think dunnit
Who do you respect?
Probably think the same of all academics and intellectuals.
Do you really believe that most politicians couldn’t make much more money by working in the private sector?
Wow. Those in government could make much more by just forgetting public service – not worth the ongoing ignorant droning from the ‘know it all’ public, who, actually don’t know much and rarely can see the bigger picture.
As Homer J Simpson would say … Doh!
“They’re good in a crisis. But they disappoint in peacetime.” – Verity
No Jacinda and co are not good in a crisis. They got real lucky. If a guy gets the ball through the hoop 1 out of 10 , he got lucky right? Look at Team Jacinda, they’ve screwed up nearly everything.
Team Jacinda winged it til Delta and Omicron spear tackled them into the dirt.
So they got lucky is all with the covid lockdown call back in March 2020.
EVEN Auntie Helen (indirectly) tisk tisked Jacinda in her UN report into the Global covid response – NO ONE GOT A PASS MARK from Auntie Helen. That report sure got a VERY SHORT news cycle haha.
” see a Green Party that is next to fucking hopeless on anything other than the delivery of woke empty gestures welded to their own middle class pretensions. ”
2020 is the last time I will vote Green and I say that with a real sense of loss. The Green party have excellent policies and it is on that basis I voted for them. I met Metiria Turei back in 2014 in Dunedin and I was very impressed with her.
The days are gone and thinking back to the fight against the shyster and his deplorable colleagues in the then National – Maori – ACT government it was Tueri and many others who stood firm against everything the Nast Natz , anti LINO Maori and the rich mans plaything ACT were doing and getting away with.
Verity has to remember that its no longer about political parties but the system the are determined to uphold.
Until we focus on the disease ( neo liberalism ) and what that economic approach is doing to this country and the peoples economy which is responsible for the massive transfers of wealth to the Aussie banks as one example and if only we taxed those who should be contributing more like the corporate giants we wouldn’t have to tax the bejesus out of fuel to ensure we can still pay for roads and infrastructure.
Unless another REAL left wing alternative like Alternative Aotearoa is contributing politically and with mana to our debate and asking for the people’s support on an actual alternative then I will not support any of the ” tainted ” current parties in the New Zealand Parliament.
Yep, I’m only with the Greens because there’s no one Left of them. ‘Forced’ as per FPP. Sadness for America on that score.
Going off to National is ridiculous though.
Long into the proportional representation era the viable Left has relied on the same FPP ‘there is no where else’. Every election Helen, or now Grant and Jacinda, talked about their true belief in Savage’s Labour just before, like my minister grandfather raged in the pulpit about keeping his district dry the Sunday before.
I’ve never heard of Verity Johnson or why she is any different to a lot of people, surely it’s not unusual to not be aligned fully with any one party. We’re diverse creatures after all. Best to pick the one closest, there’s a pretty big choice and we do have the vote for our local MP as well. I’m sure there are folk wanting far left, far right, authoritarian, liberal, libertarian, anarchist, communist and God knows what else. Accept that, at the end of the day, the will of your fellow citizens is sovereign, not your particular political fantasy and get a life.
It’s OK everyone – you’re nearly through it
Denial, Anger, Bargaining and now you’re in Depression. Next is acceptance and then you’re free.
Maybe you should consider your options: https://www.act.org.nz/principles
😉
What a bunch of sad sacks!
Politics is much more than the Parliamentary type–join a union, get active in a local issue or an international solidarity campaign–but DO something.
Next election Vote Green and Te Pārti Māori rather than starting yet another party with all that entails. Extra Parliamentary organisation in the community is where it will be at for the new gens and those of us boomers who are not brain dead graspers.
check out https://www.alternativeaotearoa.nz
Oh, and if you live in Auckland, help Efeso Collins become Mayor.
Indeed. Excellent sessions at Pipitea Marae a couple of years back!
Efeso Collins doesn’t run chair a single committee in Council and mostly doesn’t even turn up for meetings.
So best of luck with that!
It’s probably time Jacinda was rolled, Someone else would be better
Ah! Most of you appear to be at the 4th stage of grief – depression. But don’t worry – there’s a much brighter future of acceptance and moving on.
May I recommend this: https://www.act.org.nz/principles
Is your recommendation tongue in cheek Andrew? Do you see ACT as being a viable option on that manifestro which seems to me something written to convey feelings to the reader, but is the usual cloudy bilgewater of people who have grabbed words and ideas out of the air and patted them into a shape that bears resemblance to what a society might look like to someone who never had to do a wof check on it.
I didn’t realize Martyn was involved in starting the Mana Party – thank you and FFS RESTART IT! We need a home.
Is Social Credit a viable alternative option? Has anyone looked into them or have an opinion?
Labour and National are the same thing and ACT and The Greens are confederate puppet parties to them who blot up, then quietly strangle off, any dissent from what I’d describe as political outlier thinkers.
Until most of you come to comprehend that, then all we’ll get is white-noise rumbles from the grumbling, malcontent masses. Sound familiar?
All you have to do is start with that export earned dollar and follow its convoluted journey through all those sticky pocketsessssssssssssssssssssssssss……… Aye boys?
The multi-party corruption which facilitates the parasitic greed of the few who financially cripple our otherwise rich AO/NZ has become systemic and until there’s a complete overhaul of our politics through thorough independent public investigations and the remastering our democratic infrastructure we’ll continue to limp along, barely able to stand up as privateer parasites suck on our blood.
BNZ, ASB, ANZ, Westpac? Do you have an opinion on that ? How’s our six billion dollars in net profit you effectively stole from us working out for ya? Big fat juicy bonuses and salaries for our Aussie bankster mates?
Australia? Our primary industry competitor and yet our dirty politicians have us in bed with them and the likes of ronny Brierley from back in the day were there, in Australia and NZ, feasting on free and easy primary industry exports earned money.
Yeah, I’d rather Norm Kirk’s sort were in charge but they thinned out and washed away, except for critical memoirs. The tide went out on feeling for unity and solidarity, and landed us up on this desert shore prone to every bird of prey as we run for the sea. But, thankfully, we have more unity, or demo-cracy, than Amerika and Oz (though I admire Oz’s better initial response to the freemarket revolution).
Peter Bradley, Martyn, Verity and me too…..MANA PARTY for working class – chardonnay socialists need not apply.
So Verity Johnson is bitterly disappointed that things are not better than they are – so she intends to deliberately do something that will make them even worse. Interesting. And perverse.
When people settle for for mediocrity there is less possibility of disappointment.
indeed spc, expect the worst you’ll rarely be disappointed.
Pointing out that it is irrational to replace mediocrity with disaster, is not “settling for mediocrity”.
Pointing out that it is irrational to replace mediocrity with disaster, is not “settling for mediocrity”. It opens the possibility of action towards alternative, saner options.
I think Verity was ‘lost’…long ago….she was a protege of Paul Henry…after all.