I don’t know why politicians even bother sometimes.
Social media is supposed to be about engagement sometimes it is about stupidity.
I’d love to see the instruction sent out to back benchers about the housing changes…I just bet it says “Hey you, insignificant back bencher…write something.”
And so they did…exactly that: Read more »
The Clown of Campbells Bay, Andrew Williams, has not been noticed since he went to parliament. This is a huge disappointment for Andrew Williams fans as he was the kind of Mayor of North Shore that gave the public a lot of laughs. Read more »
Some more good advice from Maggie Barry:
I personally think that men and men and women and women should be allowed to marry if that’s what they want. Frankly, I don’t quite understand why they want to do it. I’ve never got married in my life.
Frankly, I don’t quite understand why they want to do it. I’ve never got married in my life. Read more »
Whaleoil’s favourite backbencher Maggie Barry tells it how it is.
When it comes to the dark arts of politics, one piece of advice I received and that I took was that if someone hits you, you hit them back twice as hard. I’ve done that in my first year. I think people have got the message that I’m not going to be bullied and pushed around so hopefully (in 2013) I can relax a bit from that stance.
I wonder who has taught Maggie that rule. It is my personal all time favourite rule of politics. I call it the Double Rule. Read more »
Jacinda Ardern – Observation by the Owl
Last week I “Owl’d” about Steven Joyce and a possible National Party strategy leading into the 2014 election.
This week it is Jacinda Ardern
The Owl is a watcher of Parliamentary TV and yesterday Jacinda Ardern (who I would be quite happy to have a coffee with) quizzed Paula Bennett (who I would have a wine with) about social welfare expenditure.
What Jacinda doesn’t understand is that a lot of us are far more experienced and knowledgeable of previous governments to know that Labour spent more than their fair share of dubious social welfare grants on. The student loan “bribe” which saw students head off overseas on trips. It was a pathetic line of questions which she knew the answer too. Which was 5.
There is no question she looks bright, intelligent, radiant smile and a confident speaker. Even more than most of her colleagues but not as skilled as Annette King or Maggie Barry who I enjoy listening to. They are great speakers. Even Gareth Hughes gets a leap on her.
However Jacinda Ardern this week receives the Owl’s Observation
Owl’s Observation
1) Where are your policies?
What I have been struggling with is that I as a taxpayer and voter have not read, seen or heard a policy on social welfare. Can you please direct me to where I may find them?
2) What are your policies?
You will have a budget exceeding $4BN if elected. What are you going to do with it? I want nuts and bolts as a voter please.
I am starting to think you are trained in Kevin Rudd’s school of politics – very well spoken, great on rhetoric, good sound bites and probably going to be a great talk back host but severely lacking on detail.
Finally when Russell Norman gets the Finance Minister role how are you going to dove-tail a social welfare program which shows a Green Finance Policy that wants to eliminate breeding and immigration (refer Greens Population Policy) and heavily tax Starbucks, McDonolads and Facebook while sending 246,000 people on the unemployment list when they close down manufacturing and primary industries in NZ.
David Farrar blogs about reports the Conservatives are thinking of campaigning in Epsom:
Actually I would say Epsom is more liberal than other electorates such as Tamaki.
My belief is that Paul Goldsmith will become MP for Epsom at the next election, so long as his name is on the ballot paper. I don’t think Epsom wants to become the tactical voting capital of NZ.
If I was advising the Conservatives, I’d tell them to look for a seat where it is likely a National MP will retire in 2014. Their chances are best there.
Farrar is always good at analysis, and will tell you that winning a seat from an incumbent is near impossible. This means Colin Craig will struggle to beat the extremely popular local MP Mark Mitchell in Rodney, who already pasted him once, or the high profile and high name recognition Maggie Barry in North Shore.
This leaves just one seat north of the harbour bridge, East Coast Bays. For some time now it has been rumoured that Murray McCully has been offered three years practicing diplomacy in gay Paris, where he can pretend to be ambassador while examining the cultural implications of the Folies Bergere from the New Zealand taxpayers perspective.
Matt McCarten opines about the travesty that is Labour at the moment. He isn’t holding back either:
Spin over last week’s political polling is that David Shearer must lift his game if Labour is to be competitive. That’s true, but he is pitched against the most popular prime minister in living history.
It will take Shearer at least until election year before voters pay him much attention. His current 13-14 per cent preferred prime minister support is twice as much as Phil Goff managed and it took Helen Clark almost a decade before she smote her opponent.
It was always going to take a lot to knock off a Key-led National Party. Does it look like Shearer could despatch Key yet? Of course not.
Finally Matt McCarten acknowledges that which the electorate has known for quite some time…that John Key is popular…and everyone else, not so much. The problems though for Labour lie in those below Shearer.
But no single person can win government without a front bench of competent potential cabinet ministers. So here’s the real question: do Labour front benchers look like they are ready to govern? Have they earned the confidence of the public?
Labour’s problem is not its leader, it’s the caucus. The Green Party in Parliament is less than half Labour’s size yet day after day they prove how lacklustre our main opposition party is.
McCarten then goes on to excoriate the red team and explain just how lacklustre they are:
David Parker – “What sense do you have of their finance spokesman? It’s David Parker, if you’ve forgotten.”
David Cunliffe – “Cunliffe must have a secret plan he’s not sharing with us because he hasn’t initiated one attack on Joyce for more than a month. He’s awol.”
Jacinda Ardern – “…can’t seem to lay a hand on Paula Bennett as she goes about kicking the poor. The most attention Ardern got was when Maggie Barry made a nasty remark over her not having a child.”
Maryan Street – “…Tony Ryall must find it hard to believe he hasn’t had one sleepless night from being marked by Maryan Street. I respect Street but she’s made no impact on him.”
Nanaia Mahuta – “Does anyone outside the Wellington beltway even know she is Labour’s education spokesperson?
You’d think with all the fallout from National Standards and charter schools she’d be a household name. Yet in over a month, according to her own website, she’s put out a total of three press releases.”
Parekura Horomia - ”…has put out just two press releases in nearly six months. One was condolences to a family and the other acknowledged the Maori New Year. Good grief!”
Things are pretty dire when your own fanbois have now’t to say.
Labour are all outraged because Maggie Barry told the truth about Jacinda Ardern. Labour though aren’t pure when it comes to sledging women about children. Instead of sledging women for not having children, they instead sledge them because they have children. Judith Collins pointed this out in her speech during the third reading debate on the Families Commission Bill when Labour were attacking Katherine Rich in the house for “abandoning her children”:
JUDITH COLLINS (National—Clevedon): It is great to hear from the Hon Steve Maharey that he is now listening to us and is starting to agree with us. I say to that member over there, Jill Pettis, and her colleague Judith Tizard—who all the way through the last debate on this bill screamed across the House at my colleague Mrs Katherine Rich: “Go home to your kids!”— “Thank you so much, the voice of feminism.”
Judith Tizard even said to Katherine Rich in her speech that at least she had never abandoned her children…of course Judith Tizard had never had any children to care for or even “abandon” as Labour likes to describe working mums.
The Herald and other media have picked up the faux outrage exhibited from Labour MPs over some good sledging in the house by Maggie Barry at Socialist Cindy. Cactus Kate sums up Labour’s preciousness perfectly.
Maggie Barry however is unrepentant and staying firm with some added sledges on the way through.
Ms Ardern, who is 32 today, said National, which opposes the legislation, was asking people if they “preferred coal or children”.
“Stop subsidising heavy polluters and we can back kids. Build one less road of national significance and we can help kids and their families,” she said. “This Government has proven that their priority is not children.”
Ms Barry, 52, responded by asking: “How many kids do you have?”
The North Shore MP later added: “Don’t be so precious, petal.”
The Opposition side of the House erupted with calls for an apology, which the first-term Government member refused to give.
Valid debating question…how many kids does Jacinda Ardern have? If she is going to stand up in parliament and talk about the pressures of parenting then she best know something other than the line prepared by Trevor Mallard for her.
Speaking after the debate, Ms Barry, who had her only child in her late 30s, said: “I am not apologising for it. I don’t think it’s a very sensitive issue. Jacinda dishes the dirt as much as any.
“When it comes to these things Jacinda Ardern is getting her knowledge from books as opposed to personal experience.
“When people take the moral high ground they probably are leaving themselves open a bit.”
And that really is the difference between Labour and National…book learning as opposed to practical experience.
As for Mallard’s comments, well that man is beneath contempt…I will outline his outrageous litany of comments in a later post.
Labour are prize hypocrites when it comes to this too…I will outline all that in a later post as well.
There was another great sledge yesterday this morning in the House, from Todd McClay on Andrew Williams…the first 46s of this video is pure gold….the rest isn’t too bad either:
