Where NZ First Went Wrong
The way a snare works is quite simple. The more the creature in it struggles .. the tighter the noose becomes. Had it gone another way, taken another approach, and resisted its instinct to thrash madly against the rope – it could much more easily slip out. But in its desperation – it does not do that, and consigns itself to its fate.
Now, New Zealand First is no wild animal (for the most part) – and we are not yet at the point wherein the Party can safely be cut open for a postmortem. It is an old war-horse – and woe betide the man who sneaks up behind a horse unprepared for a good kicking. That vigour may yet manage to propel the charger across the five percent finish line rather than to the ‘finished’ line a few weeks hence.
But last night’s Reid Research poll – coming as it does upon the heel of last week’s Colmar Brunton and seeming to confirm the party’s down in the margin-of-error thickets of circa two percent – should be worrying for them. Despite all the customary bluster about polling for NZF never being accurate (and I can still hear Winston’s words echo in my ears about the 2002 results being out by “more than a thousand percent”) – there was only an 0.1% difference between the Reid Research poll prediction for NZF immediately prior to the 2017 Election, and their actual result on the night.
So what has happened? How has it come to this?
Well, the simple answer is also simply wrong. Many people shall look at tonight’s Reid Research (as well as the various other previous polling of this cycle) and conclude that the rising New Conservatives (on 2.1% in the Reid Research, 1.6% in the Colmar Brunton) and Advance NZ have cannibalized NZF’s vote.
Except if we go back through 2014 and 2011 – the Conservatives were able to return reasonably high (by their standards) results of 3.97% and 2.65% … without eating significantly in to NZ First’s vote (8.66% and 6.59% respectively).
It would be tempting to presume that New Zealand First has been trading votes with the parties of the right-wing fringe. In some cases, this is not impossible – although even as applies ACT, I’d suspect that their sudden rise is the result of haemorrhaged National support rather than coming at Winston’s personal expense. (This shouldn’t be a point of serious doubt, as NZF and ACT are theoretically diametrically opposed on so many core issues … but who knows what goes through the minds of some ACT supporters some of the time)
Yet what has actually been occurring is that NZ First has been losing votes to Labour. As, to be sure, has just about everybody else.
And therein lies the rub.
NZ First’s strategy for much of the campaign this year has been to present itself as ‘in this government but not of this government’. At Cabinet at least partially to prevent Labour (and the Greens) from Governing in particular areas. The proverbial ‘hand-brake’ upon our democracy.
And some of the time, this is a viable stratagem. It is possible that, were circumstances different than they are now, that this would even have been a successful prospect for the party.
If this were genuinely a 2002 style situation, for example, a weak National would mean that voters distressed about the terrifying specter of a moderate allegedly-left-wing government would be queueing up in droves to support parties perceived as able to ‘counter’ or at least ‘limit’ Labour’s agenda. Whatever that “agenda” may be perceived to be. It almost does not matter.
But this is not a 2002 style situation. It’s a 2020 style situation. A Time of Endings. And twists in the narrative that keep occurring so we’re never quite sure when or where that “Ending” may happen to be.
As soon as NZ First chose to go with Labour in 2017, it made it exponentially harder for itself to present as being “the outsider” – it was now going to be part of Government. Which makes running *against* the Government quite a difficult proposition to successfully pull off.
Running *with* the Government as a necessary support partner, however, is quite a different – and, I suspect quite a lot more of a viable – prospect. It’s something the Greens are, arguably, doing right at this minute – and reaping the polling rewards of being about three times as popular as NZ First, and over the 5% threshold. In theory – we’ll see how things play out on Election Night.
As I have written about before, from 2014 onwards there was a concerted effort inside NZF to move the whole thing ‘rightwards’. I don’t say that this was the dominant perception of members – nor even of everybody with an actual decision-making power inside the tent at that time. But some pushed for it, arranged things, and that’s in part how NZF wound up moving away from its 2011 positioning to be more ‘center’ between Labour and National than it had previously been. And thence, where its self-contradictory series of “Bottom Lines” showboating from the 2017 campaign presumably got its start. Attempts to draw in voters from National – a strategy that was doubled down upon once it became more difficult for multiple reasons to get more votes from Labour.
But in 2020 – there are precious few votes to be garnered from National. They’ve already all either left (whether for Labour or for ACT), or are battening down the hatches and clinging on for dear life.
So aiming to win (soft) National support by presenting yourself as the vector for Government restraining – is , at the moment at least , somewhere between a losing wicket and a slow hole to nowhere.
If you like Labour, why would you want to vote for the party that is the self-declared “handbrake” upon Labour governance. If you don’t like Labour … you’re probably desperately clinging on for dear life pretending that National’s actually somewhere in the mid thirties despite an escalating mound of “ROGUE POLLS” and Goldsmith accounting to the contrary. Or you’re a Greens voter.
The sensible way forward as of several months ago – it’s probably too late for this now – would have been to present as the ‘elder statesman’ party. The one that had productively worked with others to produce a strong and stable response to challenging times. And who had worked overtime in the relevant portfolio sectors (like Foreign Affairs) to help augment rather than undermine the Government’s core directives.
Because in large measure … all of that’s actually rather true, and it is a shame that it has been de-emphasized: both by deliberate signalling on the campaign trail, and by some of NZF’s high-profile actions while in or around Government (that handbrake thing being quite prominent within them).
There would have been meaningful ‘room for difference’ as well to prevent the specter of being ‘absorbed’ and ‘eclipsed’ by Labour – a risk, to be sure, for attempting to run ‘with’ rather than ‘against’ the dominant party of government.
But looking at the Greens at the moment – who are presently in a rather better position than NZF – we can see that it is possible to support Labour *and* present a vision that goes further than Labour’s in important ways which get noticed by voters. Not necessarily *positively* noticed by voters, perhaps, but that’s the risk you take.
It’s not impossible that things will change quite rapidly over the next month, and NZF will somehow perform yet another amazing resurrection from what would otherwise be the dying embers of their funeral pyre. I’d certainly like to believe that to be the case – but the *good* NZ First, not the rather obstructivist-obnoxious petty-
Because ultimately – it’s been that sort of vibe which has been the problem. I’m not talking about giving a voice to the voiceless – in a democracy, that should *never* be a problem. Although the Public Party is certainly pushing the limits of *that* particular envelope, to be sure. Rather, it’s the attempt to forcibly push a centre-right outrage agenda, by generating one – and fatuous windbaggery breathing hard and heavy so it’s so difficult to see all the actual, real positive contribution being made.
It’s evident that the ‘conventional logic’ inside parts of the party is that this strategy should be working – and should be providing just enough difference from Labour to bring in both ‘conservative’ Labour supporters and National supporters alike. But it isn’t.
And so, the noose is tightening. As it has been, really, all year. NZ First’s polling has been progressively tracking downwards for much of this cycle – as, more worryingly, have Winston’s Prefered Prime Ministership ratings (which interestingly tend to be a better predictor of the party’s support than polling, some of the time).
So it’s running on instinct. Its instinct – at least in some quarters – being to thrash about and ever more dramatically. Just last week we had talk of “bringing down the Government” rather than making use of the “agree to disagree” provisions in the Coalition Agreement. And a range of other previous outbursts that sound more like rival parties on opposite sides of the aisle instead of coalition partners joined at the hip on the Treasury Benches.
And just as we saw with the mechanism of the snare – in situations wherein the animal thrashes about acting out its instincts , the noose does not leave its limb. Instead, it begins to cut off the blood-flow as it constricts in fairly direct consequence.
It’s probably too late to do anything about that now.
The only serious question is whether NZ First possesses sufficient strength left in its hindquarters to rip out the snare from its moorings rather than successfully breaking free.
Maybe, just maybe, its leg (last or otherwise) can still support it yet.
The only safe place in a parliament for a party like NZF trying to hug the centre line (questionable but that is where they put themselves) is on the cross benches. If you align with one or the other of the major parties, you lose half of your vote.
They’ve shifted to the right, good luck with that, there is little elbow room in that space for more with the plethora of small, somewhat nutty parties there.
As a small party, you are better to be an ACT or the Greens where no-one is in any doubt where your loyalties lie, be on the right of the right leaning party or the left of the left leaning party. They give voters the chance, by giving them a decent whack of the vote, the ability to signal to the major party that we want a more left or right direction.
Go the Greens, we need some bold policies
Go the Greens, we need some bold policies
Yes. At least as a starting platform!
‘Go the Greens, we need some bold policies’. Yes we do, and agree with your comments in general.
I believe the start of this end for NZF was the way it conducted it’s self since election night 2017. Peters was rejected in his electorate seat which was telling. Then NZ had to watch him strut around like a peacock during the coalition negotiations. Almost all of us hated the way he basked in his power and collectively decided we can’t ever let this dynamic unfold again.
Then we learned about the prizes NZF had won during the negotiations. It had all the hallmarks of a man who had put himself and his party first, not NZ as his party name suggests.
The way Peters threatened to bring the Government down if they continued to pursue the capital gains tax was a nauseating power play totally out of proportion with NZF’s standing across NZ. This was a golden opportunity to bring some fairness, balance and equality into our tax system. This was desperately needed and well overdue. Peters not only stopped it, he did so in a manner that reflects badly and then had the temerity to describe his actions as a “success”. The legacy of Dr Michael Cullen ended by Winston Peters. Oh the irony.
Despite all of the above, people would have been wise not to write Peters off as he seemed to know how to time his election campaign run better than others. National gambled on counting him out with their cut out the middle man campaign in 2017. That ended badly for National. Where it all changed to my eye was the 18th May Newshub-Reid Research poll.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/05/newshub-reid-research-poll-simon-bridges-still-confident-he-will-lead-national-into-election-despite-personal-poll-ratings-below-5-percent.html.
Labour, the Government coalition partner sat on 56.5% where as NZF sat on 2.7%. ACT coincidently were at 1.8% exactly where they’d sat for some time. Peters recognized what those numbers meant. The end of his career and possibly even more importantly to him, the end of his legacy, the NZF party. We saw an immediate change with Peters that was both cynical and despised in equal amounts. He knew better than most how much Ardern had been relentlessly attacked, undermined, ridiculed and misrepresented by the National Party yet that’s exactly what Peters began openly doing himself. This happened at exactly the same time NZ was embracing Ardern. An epic miscalculation by Peters. He knew he couldn’t take votes from Labour so set out to take them from both National and ACT in a way that reflected very badly on him and it’s totally backfired. You can’t unscramble a scrambled egg but you can recognize your colossal blunder and give voters the chance to potentially forget and forgive. Instead, Peters doubled and tripled down. Voters saw this for what it was and recoiled from the man and his party.
In addition to this we’ve had a series of huge question marks over his NZF foundation and the gifting of huge favours to the fishing and racing industries along with other significant NZF donors.
NZF and Peters are now in full blown desperation mode. His Orewa speech was yet another example of this. There is nothing whatsoever Peters can do to prevent his and his party from it’s October 17th 2020 demise. It reminds me very much of the “mathematical certainty” scene from the movie “Titanic”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHdka7netuY
The inescapable inevitability for NZF is nigh. I believe the far more relevant question now is what happens next over the remaining 3 weeks of NZF’s life and Peters long career.
1) Will Peters via his desperation continue to scrape the bottom of the barrel and completely implode prior to October 17th? or…
2) Will Peters accept his fate, stop blaming others and conduct himself with some grace, dignity and humility and retain some small portion of a legacy he at least could still be proud of?
NZTAB Betting market on the above 2 options.
1) $1.02
2) $500
Both Ron Marks and Winny have cuddled up to Netanyahu and ignored the Palestinian crisis thereby showing no moral fortitude and no doubt personal rewards from that regime.
NZ’s voice against the crushing of an indigenous people was ignored and we were misrepresented.
Unless that is undone then they need to go inspite of the things Winny had done such as the free medical for youngsters, hearing aid assistance for the oldies, the gold card and other small but significant social advances now forgotten by most.
Morality and standing by the underdog is a Kiwi thread.
NZ First (like the Greens) are in this dire straights because they had a brand that people voted for consistently and then after getting into power – they blew it, And in some cases did the opposite of what they stood for.
NZ First was known as a anti immigration party that supported the rights of the elderly in particular and wanted to keep NZ sovereignty and not sell it out to foreign interests.
Sadly they failed and in many ways did the opposite.
While overseas groups with this mantra gained in popularity NZ First, threw out their old policies and seemingly sold out to foreign interests just like the rest of our MP’s in NZ.
NZ First voted for the new TPPA agreement when they were staunchly against it prior to being voted in.
There has been a massive increase in temporary work permits coming into NZ (with the same amount of dependants linked to the visas) while NZ First were in government. (While it might have been lucrative for donations for NZ First at the time from farmers, construction and lobby groups to do this) – it ultimately has cost them their label as anti immigration.
NZ First now seem opportunistically pro immigration (just like all the other parties in NZ, so it takes away their uniqueness). Once temp residents get into NZ with all their dependants, our immigration policies can’t easily get them out – it take years – and then generally fails – even if the migrants are in jail and facing criminal charges in NZ or are exploiting other people here. Yay to increasing exploitation in NZ! Sarcasm.
NZ First allowed the foreign house sales bill in NZ to be watered down so that anybody who is resident here can buy houses here, anyone in the world can buy new apartments here, and people from Singapore and OZ are classed as NZ citizens when buying property here. https://www.alexanderdorrington.co.nz/buying-residential-nz-land-without-the-need-for-consent/
NZ First dropped the ball on superannuation, they used to be fighting for that right, but now we find out that NZ aged asian pensioner numbers have sky rocketed and now is expected to be more than the number of aged Maori and Pacific Islander’s combined within a decade.Yep is is mostly the Natz fault, but NZ First did not do anything while in power to curb it enough. I don’t blame the Asian pensioners, why wouldn’t you retire in a country that gives you free everything within 10 years, while subjugating Kiwi’s to pay for it? Foreign pensioners do not have to pay any taxes in NZ to get that pension.
Added to the above betrayals, Shane Jones is an opportunistic dick head that would sell his grandma for any advancement to himself. A bad choice as the new mouth piece for NZ First.
The other MP’s also got bogged down, Tracy Martin with the woke Trans movement, and the other MP’s from NZ First missing in action. When I think of NZ First, I do not see their target voter being a trans activist.
NZ First used to be considered practical and no nonsense, but now is all over the show.
Also a lot of the small businesses that used to support NZ First do agree with environmental action and NZ needs to stop being a dinosaur with the environment.
Sadly SaveNZ you are right with your conclusions.
Many of us ‘rail advocates on the east Coast’ Gisborne/HB also got let down with Winston’s many promises he gave us all at meetings that we would get our railway restored and reconnected again, under NZF “common sense policies”- but NZF failed again with that promise sadly and Winnston made a fatal mistake to use his cousin Shane Jones we call “the buffoon” that became to us a total disaster as he refused to meet with the local other peoples of this region (the common elders and rail supporters) and now we are left at the hands of right wing neo liberal parties to come to our aid if they choose to.
This is un-likely.
So we elders may be damned to die under truck trucks ‘that now dominate our roads making them unsafe’ for our very elders that Winston was always promising to protect “as the only Political party that truly represented our seniors in NZ”.
If NZF fails to reach 5% we are truly stuffed.
I feel for your situation Cleangreen. A few years ago on holiday round the cape we were a little shocked by the state of the road from the cape down, and logging trucks seemed to outnumber the cars. Not even fixing the roads, just put up these weird signs warning of uneven/bumpy ride. Go figure.
Your last paragraph is telling. If environmental action is required we cannot and must not allow ACT nor National anywhere near the gateway to power.
We didn’t need a poll to tell us that. I’m at ex NZ First voter and from my point of view they did not keep their policy promises for the most part. So no more votes for you.
I suspect many people who voted NZF will probably jump ship to ACT who seem to offer a similar proposition and at least at this stage some actual well thought out policies.
I do wonder where voters who are from this traditional political demographic who have environmental concerns will end up (maybe stay home)?
The environment is far, far too important to stay at home
exactly!
If Winston First is in fact responsible for Labours disappointing and quite frankly traitorous backdown on a CGT, then I hope we are seeing the end of him. I’m pissed off about Jacinda Arderns “not while I’m the boss will we have a CGT” stance. Labour has lost my vote, for that. Good article Curwen and well written, enjoyed reading it.
GreenBus,
There were many vested interest voices bleating about the proposed CGT, but only one voice that had the power to bring the Government to it’s knees. That of course was Winston Peters. So concerned and fearful of the Peters threat was Ardern that she not only took the CGT off the table, she promised it was permanently off the table. For Labour to take the action they did with such an important flagship policy, there was only one credible scenario. This was confirmed in many different ways.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/112112394/sir-michael-cullen-not-surprised-at-capital-gains-tax-rejection
Yep understand what your saying. I’m sick of Politicians getting into power based on some big promises they argued tooth and nail about, then about turn and do the effing opposite, or nothing.
Superb piece of writing, Curwen. You have an ear for the groaning of history – that tell-tale exhalation before the ground begins to buckle and shift beneath your feet.
I, too, sense the ending of an era.
As a gold card holder who frankly doesn’t know WTF the card is good for other than not looking like a community services card when at the Dr, neither I, nor any of the many other ‘over 65’s’ I know would ever vote for Peters’ party.
See that is what NZF is, a creaky, washed up support structure for Peters’ ego & megalomania. Now that baby boomers are the largest identifiable aged grouping, racist blather tossed out like so much confetti to scare the oldies gets no traction.
Neither does stopping the CGT or doing nothing to assist working poor people, many of whom are homeless. We’re not all selfish old arseholes, and even those that are also recognise the fastest way to get offside with the rest of Aotearoa is to vote self interest when so many are hurting. Peters is widely seen as the cause of those failures and has been outed in a way that loses votes not garners ’em. I dunno if Peters did it all on his own, from my perspective Ardern & Robertson didn’t fight nearly hard enough so they too will never get my vote.
Where have Peters’ voters gone? That’s easy, visit any cemetery if you want to try and poll ’em in 2020.
Debsisdead
You sound like a hard cold National voter, and wouldn’t respect elders of any political colour, so we will ignore your insulting of the elders.
Debsisdead As a national voter ask Judith why is she only advocating for road freight in her roads roads and more roads infrastructure plans; – is she tied to the oil industry who wants trucks for they use 7 times the diesel per tonne carried than rail does???
Why is she advocating “dirty emissions trucks ‘in a desperate effort to reverse the climate change disaster times on our own doorstep?
Not very smart eh ‘cleangreen’? Either that or you didn’t read what I wrote eg
“Neither does stopping the CGT or doing nothing to assist working poor people, many of whom are homeless. We’re not all selfish old arseholes, and even those that are, also recognise the fastest way to get offside with the rest of Aotearoa is to vote self interest when so many are hurting. Peters is widely seen as the cause of those failures and has been outed in a way that loses votes not garners ’em”
How many natz voters do you know who want a CGT?
I’m not going to dignify your stupidity with a defence other than to say none of the contenders have earned my vote as they all spew centre rightt nonsense which does nothing for the truly suffering in Aotearoa and if you think that supporting the ‘lesser evil’ is a viable way forward you accept that our nation will get more evil after each election.
I took out the bit where I questioned your cognitive prowess as these blogs rarely publish posts which go against whatever their favourite party panders to – if one is suitably disparaging of a deserving dingbat.
My dislike of labour nzf green rightist policies makes me a natz voter – HA! – gimme a break!
Have you even considered that every political party in Aotearoa this election is continually spouting rightist propaganda?
No Mana Party – no party for me to vote for.
Maybe the sysop will publish this response in a coupla days -after the thread has fallen off the homepage.
That was what John Key and John Banks said during their “teabagging” session. ‘Winston’s voters will be dead soon’. And let’s face it, the ‘End of Life Choice’ bill will deal to the rest.
Shane Jones being an arrogant buffoon, didn’t help Winston’s cause much either. The same Shane Jones that tried to become Labour leader, supported by Wira Gardiner (Mr Hekia Parata).
There’s so much sullying ‘dirty politics’ in this fine country, the sooner National, and NZ First lose every damn seat they have and resign ‘reluctantly to spend more time with family’, the better off New Zealanders will all be.
You sound like a thinking voter & deserve a lot better than some of the replies so far.
No jobs for locals…. NZ prefers non whistle blowing foreign workers for most of our industry jobs now… back to same old… if you are local, join a gang, be unemployed or go overseas where your skills are more valued than in NZ, seems to be the norm now.
Border exemptions leaves fishing industry ‘hugely relieved’
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/122875207/border-exemptions-leaves-fishing-industry-hugely-relieved
Oil rig workers claim unfair treatment in a system ‘rotten to the core’
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/121961383/oil-rig-workers-claim-unfair-treatment-in-a-system-rotten-to-the-core
Apparently all the shovel ready constructions jobs are all about foreign workers coming to NZ while the NZ taxpayers pay over the odds with all the delays. https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/plan-b-for-transmission-gully/ar-BB15a7kT
Where did it go wrong?
I’ve written before about Shane Jones being a smartarse. There are no more who like a smartarse than there are who like an arrogant bitch leading a party. Some electorates have a quotient which suggesting Jones would have a chance in certain circumstances. I don’t think Northland is anywhere near that.
When there are factors such as a chastened National (in the electorate) having an archetypical pig standing and Labour has Willow-Jean Prime, Jones’ chances were a lot closer to zero than anywhere else.
The only chance Jones had of winning the electorate was to get all the cuzzies off the couches and vote for him. What roll are they on? Northland or Te Tai Tokerau? Will they vote?
I still think Winston (and strangely note that no one else seems to agree) screwing over UK pensioners was a/the major reason why NZFirst have seen a dramatic drop in their vote.
The number 1 issue in this election is Covid-19.
Whether you are demanding closed borders to save your life, or opening the borders to save the economy, that is the issue.
Peter’s supporters are in the age group most at risk.
They, along with many elderly National voters, don’t want the risk NZ First, National and Act can form a coalition and reopen the borders. They have shifted their vote to Labour to save their ass.
The economy is not much of an issue for them.
ACT is the only anomaly, attracting the gun lobby vote and young right wing Tories.
There are some great comments here, but they all consider we are in business as usual.
I did a search and not one mention of Covid-19.
Bizarre analysis, without including that one issue.
National want to privatised quarantine – FFS look what happened in Melbourne.
Unlike the USA, New Zealand has 2 degrees of separation – we all have minimal degrees of separation from someone older, our kamatua, our kuias and koros, our grandparents and our vulnerable here are Maori and Pasifika.
She-trump, with eyebrows and lipstick, would open the borders and deaths and then, would announce with faux gravitas, that deaths were a ‘sad reality, but we cannot hold the country to ransom’, or glib platitudes to that effect. Too little, too late once you let that plague into Aotearoa and deaths start to increase.
Even businesses now see that Labour and Jacinda’s way is far better for the economy recovering than what the male Trump is putting the USA through atm.
Rugby. America’s Cup. Netball and Cricket will all be back because of Labour’s quarantine policies and the 10% gradual release for essential immigrant workers.
And every ignorant arsehole that tries to escape from 4-5 star quarantine puts 5 million of us, and future economic recovery in jeopardy.
Don’t disagree with any of that, but so what.
How does it relate to my comment.
Among other things that could of been of merit, Winston may be being abit modest in not reminding voters that he has been the Deputy Prime Minister for and of the last government term.
It’s worth reminding i guess, that during the term the media has at times been lableing him as the real prime minister, and not Jacinda, and now they are saying that he has lost much of his votes to Jacinda.
So perhaps the reminders that he has been the Deputy Prime Minister of the last Govt. term may help clear up matters as relates to why some of the electorate are wanting to vote for New Zealand First in relation to how that gets reported come election time and during govt. terms – literally oppositely lol.
Unfortunately NZF and Winston try the point scoring game and play the double negatives, which confuses the punters. In the first MMP Election NZF won the 5 Maori Seats and 42% of the Maori Party Vote which gained NZF 17 Seats in total, since then NZF has walked away from one of their key support bases the Maori Seats and now relies on it’s traditional voting block of aged voters and people who can not stomach voting for either National or Labour.
NZF have got some good people and policies however time will tell, NZ Politics has been better off for having NZF and Winston in Government over the past 26 years and I think the country is better off with NZF involved in Government rather than not. Hopefully will they get over 5% however looks like it will be tight ?
The RNZ broadcast at about 5.00pm was alarming. He sounded so much like Trump Smug , arrogant, strutting loud mouth playground bully. Everything is a an evil plot by his opponents and the “deep State” .(the SFO). He is desperate, and lost.
Hand brakes have specific uses and rarely necessary.
RNZ at 5.oopm (about) broadcast a “press conference” political speech by peters that was positively Trumpiian.
The party was cleared. He ran the party. It was his political opponents and the deep state (the SFO) who were maligning him.
He never mentioned the NZF foundation who apparently have a couple of members still of interest to the SFO.
Another legal stoush for Winnie just prior to the Election, he is a tiger for punishment.
Another kick in the guts for Winnie I do it admire him for his tenacity for wanting to hang on in there I guess it is like an addiction and he enjoys the controversy.
Will NZF get the 5% I hear through the grapevine they are bleeding votes to ACT and Labour. Seymour and ACT are going gang busters and Seymour’s balls are growing bigger by the day, ACT are looking like 8 x MP’s on the current polling figures.
Interested to know what others predictions are with regards to NZF’s fate.
Does the claim that “no current members of NZF have been charged” really mean that once the writing was on the wall the two members of the NZF foundation most vulnerable to charges were persuaded to resign from the party so as not to cause a scandal? It all reeks of the Aotearoa police behave, if any police is vulnerable to a criminal charge, he/she is persuaded to resign, frequently with a golden handshake so that by the time the case gets to court the defendant is a “former policeman/woman”.
IMO NZF’s propensity for promoting odd legislation such as taking the cameras off fishing trawlers after they had agitated to have Primary Industry inspectors taken off just a few years before, reeks of petty corruption & the current funding scandal was inevitable.
I hope that the SFO recommends to the post election government that every piece of legislation NZF pushed for, be examined to ascertain whether it should be rescinded because of corruption.
Where did NZ First go wrong?
Where, were they ever right?
The Gold Card was good
And it got the support of the Grey lobby for quite some time.
But apart from that?
Under the bus
http://www.thecivilian.co.nz/two-people-in-serious-condition-after-incident-involving-nz-first-bus/
“Peters later confirmed, via written statement, that the bus was donated to the party by the New Zealand First Foundation.” The Civilian
It is hard to satirise this stuff.
Say goodbye to the ‘NO‘ Party.
Say goodbye to the handbrake party.
Say goodbye to the anti-immigrant, anti-Maori, race baiting party.