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Luxon has been Susied on National Radio

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 11:04 am, June 22nd, 2022 - 68 comments

This morning on Morning Report Christopher Luxon was well and truly Susied as Susie Ferguson asked him how can we have tax cuts yet improved public services.

Human rights, culture wars and the right

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:49 am, June 17th, 2022 - 39 comments

Christopher Luxton has proposed that social media posts showing gang members wearing bling should be censored. And in the United Kingdom Boris Johnson has railed against a ECHR decision which has upset his efforts to illegally extradite refugee status applicants to Rwanda. These are different examples of something the right is finessing, culture wars against minorities in breach of their rights for political advantage.

Gang Control Policy Is Back Big Time

Written By: advantage - Date published: 6:08 pm, June 12th, 2022 - 16 comments

We are about to have a proper gang control policy contest. It’s about time.

National needs better lawyers

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:06 pm, June 8th, 2022 - 68 comments

Christopher Luxon this morning called for the police getting warrantless search powers for arms. But the law already allows for warrantless searches where Arms Act violations are suspected.

Ardern is apparently to blame for National having racist supporters

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:58 am, June 2nd, 2022 - 273 comments

Yesterday on Morning Report Chris Luxon pivoted from a question about National supporters expressing distaste for Te Ao Maori to blaming Jacinda Ardern for not burning up political capital on co governance.

National’s policies don’t add up

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:21 am, May 31st, 2022 - 48 comments

In 21 tweets Clint Smith has set out why National’s tax cut policies and its rhetoric are absurd and how the media is doing us a disservice by not asking the hard questions like what will be cut and how the promised tax cuts will be paid for.

Act’s scorched earth proposal

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:29 pm, May 11th, 2022 - 41 comments

Act has publicly released its proposal to decimate the state should it have a say in the next Government. Its Real Change Alternative Budget may be wet dream inducing for Ayn Rand acolytes but for the rest of us the proposals should instill a deep sense of dread.

Paula Bennett’s rewriting of Pharmac history

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:29 am, May 9th, 2022 - 22 comments

Paula Bennett has forgotten history by advocating for a significant increase in spending on Pharmac while at the same time forgetting that under the National Government she was a senior member of Pharmac’s funding stagnated.

National’s diversity problem

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:03 am, April 30th, 2022 - 71 comments

National’s short list of candidates for the Tauranga seat has been released. And it is clear that its gender and ethnic representation problems will be made worse after the selection process is completed.

According to National budget slashing is a man’s job

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:03 am, April 23rd, 2022 - 91 comments

National leader Chris Luxon has publicly declared full confidence in National Finance Spokesperson Nicola Willis by proposing that former PM Bill English, not currently an MP, and Willis, who is an MP would be jointly directing the Ministers of every department to find savings.

Luxon’s triple backward summersault on Labour Day

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:00 am, April 21st, 2022 - 72 comments

In the space of one day Chris Luxon called repeatedly for the scrapping of Labour Day as a holiday then confirmed that a future National Government would not do this and said that his earlier comment was facetious.

National still has a culture problem

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:45 am, April 3rd, 2022 - 37 comments

This week National found itself the centre of media suggesting that its treatment of women is still not acceptable. A couple of Young Nats were outed as being behind the trolling of Christchurch left wing female politicians. Christchurch city councillor Sara Templeton was on the receiving end of the trolling. She did the very wise […]

National’s politicisation of Covid over the past two years

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:07 am, March 21st, 2022 - 34 comments

A slightly deeper review of National’s response to the Covid epidemic over the past two years. The overwhelming impression is that they have always complained about supposed Government incompetence in handling the pandemic and have always argued for the loosening of restrictions no matter how justifiable.

Who Pays the Price of Sanctions

Written By: Mike Smith - Date published: 4:32 pm, March 20th, 2022 - 194 comments

New Zealand’s sanctions on Russia have not stopped the war in Ukraine. They may have made our parliamentarians feel better, and Tony Blinken was quick to congratulate us on falling into line with the US “high-impact sanctions.” The language is combative, but the evidence shows sanctions do not work. They can have significant blow-back effects, particularly if not combined with effective diplomacy.

See you later Simon

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 12:13 pm, March 15th, 2022 - 40 comments

Simon Bridges has just announced that he is retiring from politics.

National’s advice to the poor – you are on your own

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:11 am, March 13th, 2022 - 125 comments

To help the poorest amongst us during the current times of International hyper inflation National has come up with a list of tips to help them. But no money.

National stuffs up its financial analysis – again

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 1:42 pm, March 9th, 2022 - 79 comments

For so called economic geniuses National sure struggles to understand how to properly cost fiscal policy. Its latest response to news that it proposed tax cuts would wipe out all discretionary spending in its first budget is to fudge the dates on which the cuts would be made.

National’s tax policy

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:14 am, March 7th, 2022 - 107 comments

National has proposed to reverse all tax changes implemented by Labour and claims that the cuts can be managed without damage to the state. But the figure it uses, $1.7 billion a year, includes income tax adjustments only and not the cost of the removal of other taxes.

This is awkward

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:51 am, March 6th, 2022 - 85 comments

Chris Luxon’s public commitment not to negotiate with the Wellington protestors has been called into question by a Facebook from Maureen Pugh claiming that members of the National Party were talking to the protesters on an almost daily basis.

Freakin useless

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 2:58 pm, February 10th, 2022 - 114 comments

Maureen Pugh has posted a post on facebook supporting the Wellington protestors, deleted it when it was pointed out to her the protestors were anti vaccination, and then claimed she did not realise many of the protesters were against Covid-19 vaccination.

Chris Bishop – manipulated, lying, or just plain stupid?

Written By: lprent - Date published: 12:55 pm, February 9th, 2022 - 24 comments

Roche, a major manufacturer of RATs, issued a statement to media on Tuesday night saying none of its stocks had been diverted or seized by the Government.
“RAT kits have been, and will continue to be, supplied to all New Zealand customers, including the Ministry of Health, in the sequence that purchase orders were placed,”. Chris Bishop MP is still claiming mythical evidence from local suppliers.

Omicron is coming

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:54 am, January 21st, 2022 - 113 comments

So far the country has fought back and eliminated the original Covid infection, won a couple of skirmishes and then and fought and quelled the Delta incursion. But it looks like Omicron is coming …

What does Luxon do about Hipango?

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 9:31 am, January 11th, 2022 - 49 comments

Harete Hipango is in the news again, this time for posing with a group of anti vaxxers and posting a photo and making some pretty way out there comments on social media.

The Standard’s 2021 political awards

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:34 am, December 28th, 2021 - 68 comments

It is that time of year where nostalgia kicks in and the desire to review current events dims. So much has happened this year. It has truly been twelve months of the praiseworthy and the absolutely pitiful. And it is time to reflect on the personalities who made us smile, made us frown and made us raise our eyebrows to breaking point.

V Day!

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:16 am, December 17th, 2021 - 319 comments

Yesterday was Aotearoa’s V day, the day that we reached the goal of having 90% of the target population vaccinated against Covid.

The country’s books are in remarkably good shape

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 8:44 am, December 16th, 2021 - 79 comments

As the country rebounds out of partial lockdown the Treasury’s recently released half yearly Economic and Fiscal update suggests that the Country’s accounts are in remarkably good shape.

Clearing the decks

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 10:00 am, December 13th, 2021 - 14 comments

The draft report into Nick Smith’s treatment of a young staff member that eventually saw him leave Parliament has made its way into the public realm, just in time to be lost in the pre Christmas media wash up.

National’s caucus reshuffle

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:49 am, December 7th, 2021 - 140 comments

The deckchairs have been reshuffled. And Chris Luxon is confident that reorganising the pecking order of a deeply dysfunctional caucus will make all the difference.

Some good news about Covid

Written By: mickysavage - Date published: 7:58 am, December 6th, 2021 - 230 comments

In Auckland there ares welcome signs that the spread of Covid is declining and the Health system is holding up. And the Vaccination roll out has gone that well that Chris Luxon has described Auckland as having some of the highest vaccination rates of any city in the world.