At a time when his Coalition government are using a manufactured economic “crisis” to slash public service jobs in areas such as health and primary industries, Prime Minister Luxon revelaed on Newshub last night that he has 7 employees working on his and his Party’s social media output.
When asked about the amount of time he spent on social media, Luxon ( who describes himself as “the tik tok King ” ) said:
“I tell you I spend more time preparing and thinking about the questions that [Newshub Political Editor] Jenna Lynch asks me rather than actually thinking about how I can actually communicate with people across New Zealand.
I found that statement revealing because:
(a) I took it to be a recognition that fourth estate journalists do hold governments to account
(b) that he was speaking to journalist who will lose their job very soon and was glib about it and was either unaware of that irony or he was very haopy he will soon have to spend less time asking uncomfortable questions from fewer troublesome reporters.
Well, I have news for the Prime Minister. Some of us are not going to stop speaking truth to power because employment and funding has dried up . We will find ways of continuing to do it because we value our democracy above Tik Tok autocracy.
Bryan Bruce is one of New Zealand’s most important and respected documentary makers. His work is available on bryanbruce.substack.com
Excellent Post @ Bryan Bruce.
Luxon is such a cock. His bald pointy head and his personality match perfectly with being a cock and a small one at that.
The knee-jerk reactionary nightmare that the natzo’s and their minions are concocting is a fictional rouse to panic.
After all, we do have 14 multi-billionaires, 3118 multi-millionaires each with a net minimum of $50 million and then there are those 4 foreign owned banksters stealing our money at a rate of $180.00 a second after tax 24/7/365. Kiwi AO/NZ’ers are slow to think and quick to lurch into panic mode because some bald-cock chicken tells them the sky’s falling. When it isn’t. ( Good coin to be made from panicking morons though.)
And did he really do a selfie with a pot plant? The democratically elected right wing prime minister of an inherently Left Wing populace took a gushing toothy selfie with a pot plant……
I think insults about a person’s physical characteristics demean and detract from the merits of otherwise often very sound arguments and commentaries.
Most people would be aware of the disgusting online abuse that Jacinda Ardern and her former colleagues on both sides of Parliament were/are subjected to.
Why has this type of behaviour become normalised? It’s the thin end of the wedge. NZ has high rates of bullying, violence, depression and suicide. There is clearly a toxic undercurrent running through our society.
Some of the abusive comments here are at the level of 11 to 13 year olds. Resorting to scatological references demeans the opinions that commenters are expressing.
Bryan Bruce’s succinct, insightful comments are great to read and will hopefully help to elevate the tone.
Thank you Vienne but this shit comes from the top when you have PM referring to people as bottom feeders and his deputy dog seemore talking about blowing up the PI ministry what do you expect.
Well said Bryan.
Well said Bryan.
National did this with ACC just to get people off their books my partner was one of them that had to get an ACC specialist lawyer to reinstate his entitlement not that he was getting anything he just wanted to ensure if and when he needs help, he could get it. No money was involved but the way ACC did it was disgusting, and they picked on the ones at the bottom thanks to pulla redstock who is now a dame fucken bullshit.
Charming.
I always take an interest and find your comments and suggestions for improvement in your Studies and Research in Sociology and the other hand the keys to browse between pages and ultimately your comments and suggestions for improvement in your country.
Need Another Reason to Head to Australia? I Have It | Slam Dunc #43
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYwsbKRiDvQ
The tax cuts are regressive. 5% of a liitle is nothing but 5% of a big income is a lot. Those earning more are already well orf. And paying the landlord’s interest charges. Plus no CGT.
NActFirst have contrived a script of how terribly the economy was run before they got in, and why its performing shit-house under them. This is to justify their slash & burn of public spending/social services,,,
Their voodoo economic ideology believes in a god who goes by the name of the ‘invisible hand’ ,,,, while also praising and claiming the negative trait of Greed is good,, . Greed is a trait/flaw of human nature which is the driving force of sociopaths and exploitation,,,, It’s responsible for crimes from fraud to murder to war,,,, it makes many dangerous and ruthless on our planet,,, where ‘there is enough for every-ones need, but not enough when we live by irresponsible greed’ …
“Greed is Good” according to the NActs in particular ,,, and Greed unimpeded by social policy (for the good of the society we all live in), and unrestricted by regulation which protects both the environment and people from ruthless exploitation ,,, Well unrestricted greed AS the social policy is Greed made Great and how the NActs are Governing,,, What other motivation was the for Luxon to claim $50,000 extra for living in his freehold house??? ,,,, Why else would you take from children, the poor, and even the police, to give more to those who own and have the most in our country… Because Greed is better than Good it’s Great….
Luxon actually said “he was entitled to his Greed” ,,, he just said it with two less words than within my quotation marks
This ideology of an Invisible Hand connected to a market driven by greed,,, is conducted as Neo-liberal Govt policy, and has a documented history showing a downward spiral of failure wherever it has been implemented…
Claiming a belief in positive outcomes when the track record is failure takes us from Voodoo economics, where people may actually believe in Voodoo magic, and into the area of ‘Fraud economics’ or ‘Charlatan Economics’, in this case the snake-oil sellers know they are con men & women selling fake stuff that will not work….
Failure for the many seem may seem to be illogical in supposed democratic society’s,, where we ‘the many’, vote in our Political leaders and Governments ,,,,
But failure for the many which enriches the few ( greedy pricks ) is entirely logical if our politicians are working for the benefit of the few, those who we call donors and funders,,, but in reality they are often indistinguishable from those offering bribes and kick-backs,,,
The lard-arse wide-boy Gerry Brownlee keeping secret those that the NActFirsts Govt have given unrestricted swipe-card access to our Parliament Ministera is indicative of who they are working with and for….
The Dodgy minister for Pork Barrel politics ‘Shane Jones’, who operates under the opposite of transparent open democratic processes tried to keep the people and groups who would benefit from the abuse of power law changes his NActfirst Govt pushed through under urgency.,,,, Changes that gives ‘you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours’ politicians like him power to over-ride legislation and grant consents for projects that may exploit and degrade our resources, the environment, our country,,, Consents to be granted by dodgy politicians with little regard required for the consequences for our people (the many), or for the future…
…. This by-passing of previous protective legislation/regulations and instead giving the green light to some undoubtedly shitty extractive project or other toxic money makers, all based on Shane Jones or some-one like him opinion, is also creating an environment and opening the door for outright corruption,,, corruption over and above our present legal types of donations, donors, or a job on the board awaiting ….
Shane Jones was forced into releasing the list of entities who are set to benefit by the NActFirsts abuse of power that they rammed through into law by another abuse of power ( passing laws under urgency in Parliament was meant for war time) ,,, Who is the war on?.
Those groups on the list he’s released after pressure have been making deals, plans, negotiations, and most likely donations/funding,, all done in secret,, and a lot if not most of it going on before the election.
We are being governed by deceit ,,,, with the NActs last round of ‘Dirty Politics’ large parts of our media were knowingly involved in that Governments attack politics of smears and dishonesty….
The media may have been cleaned up a bit, and at least some parts more balanced in reporting news ,,,
But if they cant have it bent then they’ll have it weak seems to be this NActfirst Govts approach ,,,, I dare say it will be safer to be a sycophant working in that field of media as well.
Good on Bryan Bruce and others like him ,,, this Govt needs the truth about their actions and plots revealed and reported on like no other in our history…..
Politicians need Scrutiny of their Actions compared to their words ,,,, and honest reporting on their resulting outcomes,,, rather than amplification of their spin and smears….
ie -Crusher Collins would be lucky to even be in Parliament let alone a minister if People had a true and informed view of her …. last time in Govt she was hopeless for lowering violent crime, or crushing cars ,,,, but very effective at protecting the profits and reach of the booze industry.
Hell, she could still even end up as prime-minister with this NActFirst circus.
Are we and have we gone down the road the UK has done!?
@Miks2092
6 months ago
The UK is going down because the economy is totally infected by rentierism. Every national asset from social housing, north sea oil, to major infrastructure and utilities has been asset stripped and rented back to us at extortionate rates. House price inflation has been insane! We now can’t even pay enough tax to keep hobbled public services running. We have no industrial strategy, banks just finance property speculation, and investment banking akin to gambling. There is no desire for them to lend to business as is needed. Venture capital is only set up to get a start up to a size that it can be sold off to a competitor. And investors can take the cash and run, whilst avoiding most taxes. Rather than any strategy to nurture further growth. How many missed opportunities there must have been. The government will not object to any hostile take over. ARM the chip maker being a prime example. It was allowed to be taken over at a rock bottom price just after brexit when the pound fell of a cliff. It was literally the only tech crown jewel of a company in the whole of Europe! The interests of corrupt politicians and Spivs in the City of London will always come first. The few will continue to get rich of the backs of the many. Whilst producing little of value themselves. Eventually when the vast majority are made to be dirt poor. The UK will just be a petty little country with little to offer the world.
Yeah, but combined with mass, neocolonial migration, it’s a genius move for the NZ Wars II enablers in the Beehive.
Thank you, Vienne, but this shit comes from the top when you have PM referring to people as bottom feeders and his deputy dog seemore talking about blowing up the PI ministry what do you expect.