MEDIAWATCH: John Tamihere’s Column a spectacular pitch for Labour-Green-Māori Party Government

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The problem with the Herald’s Paywall is that it is where opinion goes to die.

The Daily Blog has a larger audience than the Herald’s Paywall for Christ’s Sake!

But what John has said is important enough to drag his opinion piece out of the paywall because but is a spectacular pitch for a Labour-Green-Māori Party Government and it needs to be given far more attention than the Herald’s paywall can.

This from JTs Facebook page…

Jacinda Ardern and Clarke Gayford – why trolls are fascinated by them.

Right now you and I are witnessing one of the nastiest things ever seen in our political landscape, and that’s a fairly hefty call to make.

I am referring to the personal attacks on Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern. In addition her partner Clarke Gayford got a real good working over as well. Now, I am not referring to the comments about Jacinda made by departing MP Louisa Wall, because quite simply that’s rhetoric disguised as fact.

These past weeks have seen Ardern’s face being superimposed on some rather distasteful material along with constant disparaging comments on social media, plus there’s that nutter who was arrested for threatening to kill her.

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What’s going on is not just unbecoming, it’s actually very ugly, horrible and nasty, irrespective of whether you like her politics or not. It is also the first time I’ve seen a partner dragged into the mudslinging as much as Clarke.

I am the vice president of Te Pāti Māori and come the next election, the only place we can get votes from is Labour. However we will win votes because of our unfettered, unapologetic policy programme. We will win vote contesting ideas not personalities.

In my world of politics what I say is fact based, it is not born from speculation. But where the doubters try and get you is on the veracity of whether your approach will work. You can say this type of behaviour is justified if it was more specific, targeting issues like the slow response of the police or the high cost of living right now.

I’ll dissect the former for transparency. The elevated cost of living is happening right around the world and if it was solely Jacinda Ardern’s responsibility, I would get that. But there is more to it. Firstly, supply chain disruption. Secondly, productivity chain disruption in regard to workplaces around the world trying to come back online. And thirdly, and most importantly, you have filthy, rotten gouging going on similar to what is happening right now with the gib board shortage. Clearly none of these factors can be attributed directly to the PM of the day. Thus the type of negative behaviour currently aimed at the Prime Minister is not about policy it is about her as a person. These guys are speculating against her personality and postulating on her character and even worse, that of her partner without any proof to back it up.

They are getting critical of her because for the first time in their lives a Government is saying no to tax cuts and redistributing wealth in terms of the minimum wage and benefit uplift. Most unsettling is that for the first time in 50 years they could not escape a government mandate which limited their freedom of travel, so the annual European summer holiday disappeared. We all give up our civil liberties. The well off that are flooding the National and ACT party war chests in a non election year is telling. It’s about privilege, entitlement and always getting my way because I can buy it.

Eventually the trolls will be muted once they sense a win which is to get rid of Jacinda. They’ll get their tax cuts, control the water assets and continue the duopoly in construction, banking, electricity, cartel in grocery and other select industries. This is the only Government that has instigated inquires to question them and it’s making them nervous on their well padded high horses.

Jacinda has a number of sympathetic folk but it seems to me they have gone into bunker mentality hoping this will blow over. Nevertheless, it comes down to the type of political discourse we want as we continue our ever evolving nationhood story. Discuss the contest of ideas not the contest of personalities. Hold the PM to account, but quit the character assassination.

– John Tamihere is a former Labour Cabinet Minister and Chief Executive of Whānau Ora and West Auckland Urban Māori organisation Te Whānau o Waipareira.

…this is a JT who is holding out the opportunity of working together with Labour. It is an extraordinary insight of where the relationship is and he clearly sees that relationship with the Māori Party as a righteous rudder to a larger Political Party that has lost its ballast and sails.

This marks an attempt at a political truce and a ceasefire in the face of an ACT and National Party who are openly hostile to any concept of co-governance despite being the political parties who started that process!

The 2023 election is going to be so close between Labour + Greens vs National + ACT that the Māori Party may well be the king maker.

JT is signalling as the Vice President of the Party that he intends to be a stable leadership from a Party whose antics at times make it look flakey.

This kind of positioning I think will be crucial for the 2023 election.

The game changer here is that Seymour has made the referendum on co-governance a bottom line in any negotiation with National.

I think this could ignite on the Right and trigger an MMP dynamic that could see an overhang.

It is not impossible to see that the pull for a referendum on the Right could be so great that National voters vote National for their MP and ACT for their party vote.

If National win more electorates than Party vote it forces an overhang which pushes up the total numbers the Left need to get a majority, which could require Labour and the Greens to reach out to the Māori Party to win.

That in of itself would add fuel to the polarisation of the debate.

 

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60 COMMENTS

  1. I read that piece and couldn’t quite figure out why JT suddenly has appointed himself as Jacinda’s minder and protector from nasty trolls? I thought it came across as a giant suck up: “Please please please don’t leave us behind Labour”. Clearly he’s worried about losing a lucrative taxpayer job.

  2. I guess the attacks on John Key and his family. ie Kill him rape his daughter wernt as bad as some people poking the Princess.
    JT is surely just sucking up to Labour, his former party.

    But you are right Bomber. NZHerald has to feed its 127 premium readers something.

  3. A couple of things:

    1). Gayford has stuck his head above the parfait unlike previous spouses who followed the be seen but not heard mantra. If you comment on government policy as a spouse then you are fair game.
    2). There seems to be an underlying narrative of “poor Jacinda” in the left leaning feckless. This is a garbage narrative for 2 reasons – i) All politicians get this type of shit we only have to think back to Clark and Key that there is nothing new here; ii) The government of the day curtailed freedoms for +2 years now – to believe that there wasn’t going to be emotional blowback on this was naïve.

    You think it is bad now folks. Wait until the winter recession occurs, house price drops force negative equity and looming possible energy and fuel shortages.

    Winter is Coming

    P.S. Not a chance of a Labour-Greens-Maori government. That block will be flat out getting 40% of the vote come late next year.

      • Lower if poor man’s Gordon Brown is in charge be then (likely). The Greens will increase by default and the left bloc will pull further left scaring the LINOs into Te Reo’s awaiting arms.

    • I think you have underestimated the vitriol around the PM. I do not for one minute support her or the Labour party, but I think it is incredibly nasty and much more than any PM before her has put up with. Partly there are an increasing number of morons who don’t like the fact we have a female PM.

      We can speculate but I doubt any of us know sufficient to work out who will rule, 18 months is a long time, another pandemic, more bullshit for his mates from Luxon, antything can happen.

  4. You write as though Labour/Greens have actually achieved anything.
    They haven’t.
    And it’s still worth voting ACT just to piss off the woke academics…

  5. Read JT’s article yesterday, he is a rare example of someone that has got better with age in political terms. The TDB sheepshaggers (for ref: Natzos/ACToids/old tories/incels) have little idea of the daily grind and practical delivery that the organisations he is with achieve for working class people.

    A Labour/Green/Māori MMP electoral result is certainly the way to keep the dirty filthy natzos out while more of their supporters depart as more new gens step up.

    Anyone that considers themselves left should do three things in Parliamentary political terms.
    –Keep criticising Labour’s non delivery for working class people
    –Stop criticising Greens as if it achieves anything, there is a core 10% support there, and start pushing them to deliver more class left initiatives like they did with rent control
    –Stop criticising Te Pāti Māori for daring to exist and present the post colonial agenda, encourage them to keep on track with working class issues as well as their obvious kaupapa

    A prerequisite for ending the neo liberal state is keeping NZ National and ACT out of Govt. Labour led Govt. is not the answer but it provides the space to kick start a socialist left again.

    • TM
      No one is criticising anyone for ‘daring to exist’. But in politics, you’re best off if you achieve something noteworthy in your own right instead of sucking on the teat of a bigger party. For example, in the case of Te Pāti Māori, why don’t they make an effort to collect enough votes to stand in their own right, maybe by showing us some policies that we simply have to vote for. ‘All NZ inclusive’ policies would be a good start. As for suggesting there is a core 10% base for the Greens, you will soon be bitterly disappointed to find out there isn’t. The main thing is to vote, because people here have said they have given up voting!

      • Some of you really are political amateurs, Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples era Māori party going with NZ National was a classic suck up–as indicated by Hone Harawira leaving. The current iteration is way better in terms of class left and post colonial issues.

        The Greens have a solid core support level and that naturally winds up sheepshaggers.

        • Seems clear enough to me gagarin; It was labour that brought in neoliberalism, undoubtably because they were the least expected to go that way.It made it the obvious target .
          They turned out like the pigs on Animal farm to be as indifferent to the plight of the “animals” as the rulers who the animals had deposed under their direction.
          As so far one has to acknowledge is the present administration in deed if not in word.
          D J S

          • Unfortunately it was a wolf in sheep’s clothing also known as Roger Douglas ably assisted by Richard Prebble and others now commonly known as the ACT party. They sailed into government on David Lange’s coat tails and they absolutely killed his dream of a true Labour government in the day.

          • not what orwell was actually saying neo-liberalism hadn’t been invented in his day but thanks for answering a question panzerboi clearly couldn’t….
            if you go with the analogy the nats and act are pigs too

    • Dream on TM. Labour won’t even make a dent in neoliberalism because they are neoliberal through and through, and that is why they were allowed into power by those lovely people who interfere with every election in the world.
      The only way we could rid ourselves of neoliberalism is to part company with the Empire of lies, then face attempts at regime change followed by sanctions, and, finally, war.

  6. Jacinda brought Labour into government just on her personality as there were no great change of policy from the party lead by Andrew Little. Her personal handling of crisis like the Chch shooting and later the covid policy was spot on and she was given a gift of an Opposition at it weakest . As National regain it’s momentum and the lack of a plan going forward shows the weakness and unprepared state of Labour it is obvious that Jacinda now faces a personal attack as we go into the next election. I predict it will be a hard fight and unless one side as a massive misstep a close fight and could see NZF rise again for a final grab at power by Winston .
    My fear is at a critical time for the country as we try to avoid a decline in living standards an election based on person politics will evolve rather than policies

    • National, by imposing US style health care, slashing state housing, and ensuring wages are either frozen or cut, will ensure a decline in living standards. It has been their goal for 30 years, ever since they imposed user pays in the health care system, and slashed wages and benefits.

  7. There’s this delightful FB site called “wheres Clarke Gayford” one delightfull post was a shopped picture of Ardern titled im to ugly to be a prostitute,and many others wanting her to die in a plane crash…I’m just putting out that males are the main culprits.

    • Well, males, mankind their worst enemas: their egos.
      Increasingly the same holds true for wimmin/her kind.
      It’s all a competition dontcha know – a battle of the individual fearing the collective.
      I’m hoping to survive long enough to see how it all works out. It ain’t going to be very pretty, but in the meantime we’ll indulge ourselves with the trivial and any bullshit excuse to kick it all down the road.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9BOfBtzI1Q

      We’ll get what we deserve

    • “I’m just putting out that males are the main culprits.”
      @lurcher1948 You point is what? To imply this is indicative of an entire identity group? Spend some time on Twitter and observe the mania for reputation destruction where women are the main culprits.

      It’s almost like some ‘people’ can be really s%it to other people.

  8. when you live by PR and your only policy is the image your media hacks construct…then be prepared to be attacked in the same way…factless gesturing invites factless barbs…jacindas lack of substance gives these attackers room.

    Now some of the bullshit she gets is juvenile in the extreme but that says more about it’s source than it does about it’s subject.

    • ……….”jacindas lack of substance…..”
      That’s a tiny bit cruel @ gargarin. She has as much substance as you or I. She’s a child of her/his/its era
      Shame it might/probably will all go tits up though.
      Hopefully there’ll be learnings going forward in that space -there’s an enterage of bullshit artists and PR spin meisters relying on it, and apparently they’re ready to fight to the death.
      (Munsterarial no surprises)

  9. These people thrive on additional child poverty, more homelessness, working class in fighting, rampant inflation. JT is scum, plain and simple. Took the government to court to handover the private medical info of my family.

    • He did that so he could help them join the masses taking advantage of modern medicine to stop the spread of a virus that could have killed them. What did your campaign of fear of the white man give them except lose of jobs money and health.

      • Trevor, nope. He took info that wasn’t his to take from a segment that rightfully distrusts government, that didn’t want their info taken. Therefore aligning himself with the untrustworthy. You sound like others who think Maori are beneath them and unable to make their own decisions. You are part of upholding the middle aged white patriarchy.

        • Maori are not only capable and entitled to make their own decisions but just like everyone else sometimes they can make the wrong decisions, like favouring the word of a religious shill over science.

            • as far as I know pfizer and jacinda aren’t religious shills, many many things but not actual religious shills but y’know who is…dontya, g’wan say it, you’ll feel better really you will.

    • Yes not a New Zealander but part of the new Maori elite, a completely different race to the Maori on the street. Evolved with larger hands for the constant entitled payouts

  10. Seriously, what is Clarke Gayford to most Kiwis? He seems to come across as a bit of a drip…bland and boring.

    Why would Kiwis put up a Frankenstein Government of Labour – Greens – Maori???

  11. Looks to me like it will be a Labour/Green/Maori Party coalition, I think Winston and NZF will get 5% however I don’t think it will be enough to get National/ACT/NZF over the line IMHO.

  12. Yeah, I really cant see Winston sitting around a table drinking little bottles of water with Luxon the guy who has the job that should have been Winstons, a guy that couldnt care less about the still living members of Rob’s mob, a guy to whom “the National interest” is an unknown concept, a guy who can’t give you the name of an “ordinary bloke”.

  13. He did that so he could help them join the masses taking advantage of modern medicine to stop the spread of a virus that could have killed them. What did your campaign of fear of the white man give them except lose of jobs money and health.

  14. You just listen to the talk back hosts and their listeners especially the grumpy old men who always end up targeting Jacinda. I imagine them with a photo of Luxon on their mantlepiece after replacing Keys photo. They hate Jacinda because she has been successful internationally and with Covid and has been fixing up all of Keys government failures. They should be rejoicing and thanking Jacinda for saving their lives and the lives of NZ citizens.

    • I think the picture of Tamihere above was taken just after Newstalk ZB had to cough up thousands of dollars to Tamihere because of a particular latte drinking talkshow host, that spews vile and lies, just like the lie he made up about Tamihere. Hosking is at the highest scale in terms of lying and ego , alongside Trump.

  15. The fact of the matter is that the partner mudslinging started with then PM Helen Clark and her partner Peter Davis, so I believe. These unproven allegations on the part of both of these people, and the underlying myth that theirs was a union not of love but of mere convenience, hurt both citizens very deeply. The fact that Helen Clark was a Labour politician is, I believe, not a coincidence, as the New Zealand mainstream media has long had a bias towards the National Party.

    As for Mr. Tamihere’s so-called pitch for a Labour-Green-Maori Party coalition government, it certainly is feasible but would it be wise for the future of this nation, or would it ultimately serve to widen the racial and economic divides further? Moreover, voters are becoming ever clearer that they wish for a change of government in 2023.

  16. Don’t really like right-wingers on left-wing sites. Their numbnuttery doesn’t add anything — just coal among the diamonds — comparatively. Of course any reason used is always respected as intrinsically Left despite themselves.

    Went off to Stuff after the Herald paywall. Intent Leftists glare at me when I say I likes it. Don’t understand them. In my corner I’ve been a fervent social democrat for near on 40 years, in their corner I don’t understand them on this point.

  17. sumsuch I don’t mind ’em, defining left/right is problematic, so a non-starter…however they do illustrate their own monobrowed, lack of frontal lobes each and everyday, undermining their positions more effectively than I could

    and rather unappalling as the trait is, it amuses me to easily slap down numpties

    • We need you, Gagarin, then. I did long into the nights talks with my crazy born again christian brother in the 80s so I have no time anymore for fresh idiots, which the Right is always producing. Most of my family has gone off to craziness. On the plus side of our intellect my eldest brother got a BA at 18 in the 70s. He died at 21 but I count him as the sibling on my side.

  18. I hate the bland mortgatarianness of Labour and Greens. Te Pati Maori would be the flame and fire needed. I was sorry when I said I would vote for Greens the next election to a surveyor a few days ago. I hae ma doots aboot the Maori Party though.

    • Anyone but the Natz/ACT or Te Pati Maori/NZF if they going to join torys. Watch the Natz dirty politics team mobilise the right to try and destroy the Greens to help natzact into power like they did with Winston/NZF.

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