same old national

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National’s factional problem

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:18 am, November 28th, 2021 - 91 comments

National’s basic problem is that it has three discrete factions, christian conservatives, urban liberals and the country grouping. And no coherent vision to reconcile these totally disparate groupings.

What National Needs To Do

Written By: advantage - Date published: 9:04 am, November 27th, 2021 - 83 comments

Since the left are experts at internal knifing, National should learn from the left about how to recover. What National needsto do to recover.

The winners and losers from National’s leadership spill

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:12 pm, November 25th, 2021 - 146 comments

The winners and losers of today’s National Party leadership spill are …

How many centrist votes go to Labour?

Written By: lprent - Date published: 12:38 pm, November 25th, 2021 - 105 comments

Judith Collins lost a vote of confidence. David Farrar seems to think that Act will get the inevitable flow. Sounds unlikely. The far right and nutbar fringe has already vacated to Act – who represent them so well. But Labour overwhelming won last election on a vote from previous National voters. History repeats in 2023?

National’s civil war reerrupts

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:35 am, November 25th, 2021 - 131 comments

National’s civil war which has been simmering for a while erupted last night after Judith Collins demoted Simon Bridges for making inappropriate comments to Jaqui Dean five years ago.

National – let the virus rip

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:29 pm, November 24th, 2021 - 21 comments

There is no other explanation, and this week Paul Goldsmith gave the game away, National thinks that we should let the Corona virus rip.

Astroturfers of the world unite

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:14 am, November 20th, 2021 - 52 comments

Two days before what is claimed will be the mother of all protests links between the Groundswell organisation and the Taxpayers Union have been discovered.

National is being utterly irresponsible

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:46 am, November 19th, 2021 - 58 comments

In the middle of a pandemic where the numbers in hospital are increasing and a number of Kiwis have died from a virus that is spreading promising the loosening of current restrictions is the most irresponsible, stupid, foolhardy, idiotic, imbecile thing I could ever expect a political party to do.

Down the rabbit hole

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:17 am, November 17th, 2021 - 83 comments

Former National MP and University Lecturer Simon Thornley are in the news after publishing a video interview questioning the effectiveness of the Covid vaccine and suggesting that the evidence that Ivermectin is useful in treating Covid is epidemiologically sound and strong.

National’s plan – open and be damned

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:43 am, October 21st, 2021 - 71 comments

Yesterday National released what feels like take 16 of its Covid response plan, this one focussing on business interests and setting a hard timeline for reopening. But getting significant details wrong and rehashing failed policies previously tried in England has dampened its effect.

Covid D day

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:38 am, October 11th, 2021 - 159 comments

Some big decisions are due to happen today. What happens to Auckland’s Covid status? Should the lockdown level be reduced or should the Government think about putting it back up?

Gender split is interesting in latest poll

Written By: lprent - Date published: 10:49 am, October 7th, 2021 - 30 comments

The latest Roy Morgan poll was run between August 30th and September 26th. The headline results of Labour/Greens with 55% (increase by 3.5%) against opposition National/Act/Maori parties on 41% (up 0.5%) were good enough. But they also showed the gender split.. Women are deserting the right.

Covid does not give a fuck about your plans

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:20 am, September 30th, 2021 - 31 comments

This week we have seen reckons from John Key, Act and National on how we should be loosening up Covid lockdown restrictions. Yesterday’s 45 new cases shows how dangerous it is to think that dealing with Covid is a simple management exercise.

Smug hermit king

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:44 am, September 27th, 2021 - 127 comments

John Key has doubled down on his claims that Aotearoa is a smug hermit kingdom and claimed that it is imperative that international travel is eased although he is fine with all other restrictions to stay in place.

Key’s baaaack

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:35 am, September 26th, 2021 - 273 comments

John Key is back and has described New Zealand as a smug hermit kingdom for daring to so far achieve something no other western nation has been able to accomplish, holding back Covid and preventing thousands of deaths.

National’s urban wing moves against Collins

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:17 pm, September 15th, 2021 - 106 comments

Events this afternoon have confirmed that Judith Collins is indeed toast.

Judith’s very bad two days

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:12 am, September 2nd, 2021 - 50 comments

Judith Collins’ insistence that Parliament be reconvened even at a time that the country was in lockdown level 4 has backfired spectacularly.

Covid and the media

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:42 am, August 29th, 2021 - 54 comments

This week there has been some argy bargy between the Twitterati including the Waitakerati and the media on coverage of Covid in Aotearoa with elements of the media complaining that the criticisms are unjustified. A brief review of some of the offerings this week would suggest otherwise.

Gumming up the works

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:05 am, August 28th, 2021 - 53 comments

Last night it was revealed that National and Act had refused to agree to a proposed virtual Parliament sitting where questions could be asked, and instead wanted face to face meetings, even though this would mean a third of the country’s MPs travelling regularly to Wellington from a Covid delta hotspot.

Matt King caught blowing anti vaccination dog whistle

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:15 am, August 23rd, 2021 - 22 comments

Former National MP Matt King has been publicly posting anti vaccination propaganda under the ruse of only wanting a conversation.

The importance of Jacinda’s 1 pm press conferences

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:50 am, August 22nd, 2021 - 130 comments

Jacinda Ardern has resumed the 1 pm briefings where she communicates effectively the country’s current situation and what the plan is. But National and some elements of the media are complaining, presumably that she is doing too good a job.

The importance of political leadership in dealing with Covid

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:55 am, August 18th, 2021 - 66 comments

Political leadership in the time of Covid is important. As the Government urgently swung into action and imposed a level 4 lockdown after news of a community case of Delta Covid who lived in Auckland and had spent time in Coromandel while infectious, Thames-Coromandel District Mayor and former National MP Sandra Goudie admitted to not scanning regularly.

The Churchill picture

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:13 am, August 12th, 2021 - 165 comments

National, the party that claims to be focussed on the issues that matter decided to get upset when the Greens requested the replacement of a picture of a former UK leader who had a reputation for engaging in crimes against humanity.

National’s civil war continues

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:08 am, August 9th, 2021 - 25 comments

In an extraordinary move National’s board has reselected Peter Goodfellow as Party Chairperson and this has caused former MP David Carter to resign as board member and express no confidence in the leadership or in National’s chances at the next election.

National used to be better than this

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:28 am, August 6th, 2021 - 59 comments

Back in the day National used to have a strong urban liberal wing that gave the impression that it was sympathetic to LGBTQI issues. Yesterday that impression was trashed.

Judith’s last stand?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:04 am, August 4th, 2021 - 43 comments

Judith Collins has decided to attack the Government on the use of the Te Reo name for New Zealand even though the last National Government regularised its use.

Lies damned lies and Crime statistics

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:39 am, August 1st, 2021 - 13 comments

It should be an offence for political parties to deliberately misrepresent law and order statistics as National has done this week. It should be an aggravating feature if the party is a conservative party that champions law and order issues. After all fraud is an offence and if we don’t punish it appropriately then everyone will do it.

Mother Nature gives Groundswell NZ the middle finger

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:17 am, July 20th, 2021 - 78 comments

With record floods in Marlborough, half of Westport evacuated, disastrous flooding in Germany and the North East and the threat of record bushfires in the North West of the United States Mother Nature is passing rather cruel judgment on Groundswell NZ’s recent protest.