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Minor Leaders Debate

by Whaleoil on November 17, 2011

Guyon Espiner won the debate just because he was in charge.

Of the “talent” on show Tariana Turia and Russel Norman were the stand outs for me.

Tariana Turia oozed mana, and shamed out Hone Harawira for lying about national and some short gray haired pensioner standing next to her for duplicity. When Guyon Espiner brought the illegal tape it was Tariana Turia that showed respect, gravitas and integrity that other politicians would do well to emulate.

Russel Norman looked reasonable, sounded reasonable and actually made sense even on the ETS when he mocked Don Brash. The only time he looks distinctly uncomfortable was when he was asked about his party’s involvement in orchestrating mass vandalism of National’s sign.

Peter Dunne and Don Brash look old, doddery and out of touch with modern society. They should just go away and electorally die.

Hone Harawira is dumber than a sack of hammers. He doesn’t even know how Kiwisaver works. The man only repeats the lines Matt McCarten 30 minutes before he went on the show and he even bombs those.

Some other thieving, lying, corrupt bastard who looked shorter than Tariana Turia was also there but we do not speak of evil.

 

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  • Naylor

    “Some other thieving, lying, corrupt bastard who looked shorter than Tariana Turia was also there but we do not speak of evil” best line yet. 

  • Kevin Campbell

    Very succinctly articulated.

  • first time caller

    I agree completely Whale. Russel and Tariana were the best. The evil one did look like a cabbage. Rigged poll at the end…I’d really like to see if TVNZ didn’t rig it themselves? Desperate to have their drinking buddy back.

    • Anonymous

      Doubt it was rigged. More likely that lots of senior citizens were watching.

  • michaels

    Hate to say it but Norman came across all good for me. Won’t change anything though.
    The funny part for me was Winston….. One tends to forget just how fucking short the little c**t is.

    • Agent BallSack

      His reputation belies his stature – physically and metaphorically.

  • trekkie626

    The Greens should be in the major party debates as they have the potential to match if not eclipse Labour. Also while I might not agree with Winston, he had some of the best moments of the night, his reefer line and his look at Russel Norman when Tariana Turia said she could work with NZF were both hilarious.

  • Sars

    Leaders like Tariana Turia give a sense of legitimacy to their (sometimes) extreme constituents. She stays firm on the party lines but understands, and this is the important bit, that the party and members need to behave professionally in order to be taken seriously. She doesn’t lose sight of her agenda but always maintains professionalism. Other minor parties should take note – that is how you run a campaign outside of the main parties. 

  • Thorn

    What a waste of time last night. It sounded as if the mental ward were the studio guests.  Both Hone and Tariana fail to realise it is the consumer-driven economy which makes clothes, roads, education, stomach-staples and yes, votes possible. Duncan Garner must be someone’s bum boy to have his job. After last night, MMP means More Morons in Parliament.

  • kevin

    I saw the line-up and smugness apparent in some, turned the TV off. What a sad bunch.

  • Apolonia

    A shame the Conservatives weren’t there instead of all the ghosts of Christmases past

  • Paulus

    Yawn – other things to do last evening.

    Can’t bear Spiner – sanctamonius twit.

  • Smanawatu

    This has to be the most biased blog site I have ever seen. A site just for those in agreement and no substance. And obviously no other followers that have differing opinions. Pita Sharples said today on a live interview with Stuff this morning that the Maori Party… needed to be in cabinet to hold the Nat’s/Act coalition accountable. This statement was frivolous. Why I say this is because the Act party will not be in a coalition because Goldsmith has the Epsom seat tied up and there is no miracle big enough to Act to the 5% party vote threshold. Now this is where I will try to make my point. John Key said in an interview when asked about a coalition with the Maori Party and I quote “well last time we just brought them along with us” unquote. That shows me there is no respect for the Maori Party and could possibly mean no desire to form a coalition with the Maori Party this time around. The Mana Party and New Zealand First said they would not form a coalition with National, Peter Dunne and the Conservative party are not needed by National and the relationship between the Greens and National is starting to get shaky. Key has shown his hunger for power through making statements by way of skiting that the National Party will not need coalition partners to govern this time around. What my biggest concern is that National will not appoint any parliamentarian outside of the National Party into the Cabinet. If he does it will only likely be Dunne and maybe Russell Norman as he seems to be the weaker of the two Greens leaders so I see no real accountability of the National Party being upheld in cabinet. The next three years, should National govern alone, will be a hard slog from the cross benches coming mainly from the smaller parties such as Mana and NZF, should NZF even get in. Labour really doesn’t have strong enough leadership to counter the Nat’s and the Maori Party only seem to get a few tokenism policies through and they are only for their support of the Nat’s in supply and confidence. The only real opposition the Nat’s will face in parliament will be the strong and determined characteristics of Hone Harawira, Annette Sykes, John Minto, Sue Bradford, Metiria Turei and maybe Winston Peters. This in my opinion highlights the need for the Mana Party to be in parliament and also highlights the Mana Party truly are the people’s party